Christopher, a guest from California ( USA ):
Well Bitef is always a tremendous experience. This year selection is really good. Last night was excellent. This play we watched tonight is a great Fassbinders play. It is amazing how timeless this drama is. But also the presentation was awesome. Also Serbian actors are wonderful. I love Bitef festival and the audience in Serbia. Great energy in the audience is what makes people come and visit theaters in Serbia. That’s why plays on Bitef are memorable experience and you remember everything you have seen here.
Vasko Ivanović, critic and essayist:
Just like the Fassbinder’s film, this performance describes how a small man gets lost in the jaws of capitalism. In bitter Ionesco-like overtones, the performance is carefully built up and, with additional comic nuances, it provokes multilayered feelings. I am really satisfied, especially with body structures and mini performance-quips by Boris Isaković.
Mladen Bićanić, theatre critic:
Jelčić is a director whose hand is very precise and unique, and yet he always manages to bring some new quality. In each of his performances there is a gathering place - a sofa, a table with chairs - and there’s always something going on, and body is always in the center of attention, with its movements, gestures, and the long pauses when seemingly nothing is happening although everything stems from them. It’s an inner strength which would be totally impossible to achieve without actors. Yesterday, we saw a performance which is about the horrors of the world (Orestes in Mosul) and our confusion with that fact. It is linked to the topic of the festival which deals with the disintegration of the community, which is something that starts from the inside. Man is damaged from the outside, by the system, he reacts to that but, actually, cannot react.
Slobodan Saveljić, theatre critic:
A very good performance, carefully designed, actors are very precise. Political nature and relevance of this performance in the current moment are reflected in minimalistic, inconspicuous means that speak of the time and the moment we live in.
Ivona Tadić, economist:
It’s witty and charming, and I liked it a lot. Isaković is amazing, but other actors are wonderful too. Interesting directing, politically provocative, and absolutely topical.
Snežana Bogičević, pensioner:
I liked it a lot, I’m thrilled. But the friends who came with me say it’s terrible (laughs). The topic is contemporary, and we do live in the situation which they have shown on stage.
Dragana Milišić, a retired professor:
It’s a modern, contemporary, relevant and unusual performance. The director’s approach is very unusual. At the beginning, we were unsure of what to expect but as it unfolded, I liked it more and more. It was well-paced, too. Fantastic, just fantastic.
Ivan Dabetić, “Laguna” Publishing:
It’s an excellent performance which depicts the state of the society we’re living in. The actors are magnificent and directing was different from what we usually see in Belgrade. Excellent performance, everyone should see it.
