A small town wedding – how you don’t know it – or, do you know it?
This performance also pays homage to the theme of the festival, as the wedding is a huge leap into the unknown. You never know what you’re getting into. Bertolt Brecht’s one-act play focuses on the archetypes of people who appear at family celebrations. But whether their motivation is what it seems at first glance will be presented to us by students of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade.
The plot of the performance revolves around the wedding reception and its guests. These celebrations are also associated with several traditions that families try to follow. One of them is the donated furniture from the bride’s ancestors, but the groom wants to prove his leading role and thus introduces the guests to the furniture he created himself. Gradually, as the chairs and tables on the stage fall apart, so do the family traditions and ideals that we as spectators ascribe to the characters. And even if the whole situation seems aggravated, only a beautiful memory in the form of a photo will remain.
The scene is rich in furniture and props; the furniture can be considered a metaphor of a solid foundation of the relationship, that’s why the newlyweds should inherit the “tried” one. Just as the pieces made by the groom break over time, so does the whole image of society we see on stage. The groom thus becomes untrustworthy, as evidenced by the fact that he is able to dance his first dance with someone other than his bride. The photo canvas in the middle of the stage is supposed to show us a distorted reality created just for the eye. The creators here turn to the present, where photos are often the driving force of the world, but most of them are not true. This thesis is also proved by the fact that after any fiasco, the actors always smile and create a wonderful memory of the wedding day.
The acting in performance is managed brilliantly. From the first minutes it is clear to us who is a hardworking but domineering mother, who is the father telling stories, and we are even able to recognize a woman who is at a wedding just to cause a scandal. I would like to highlight the work of Maja Nikolić, who does not drop out of her role of a woman trying to overshadow the bride for a second. She evokes a feeling of displeasure in the viewer, and only from the movements and the search for all attention, it is clear that she is not the friend that she seems. The achievement of Denis Muroć as the groom is also worth mentioning; he is able to guide the viewer through all stages from a caring and trustworthy husband to a complete split identity into a raunchy pig.
Thanks to many anecdotes, the whole performance has a pleasant speed and brings a little lightness to the whole topic. However, distinctive colour-clashing costumes and are not coordinated in any way can distract the viewer from the real subject of the performance.
A small-town wedding dramatically represents one of the gems of social science games. Students from the Belgrade University put their own charge and interpretation into the whole topic. Even though the first few minutes are a bit confusing and more difficult to orientate in the characters, over time the actors are able to turn this in their favour. They will provide the viewer with a pleasant experience of comedy, in which one can possibly find members of their families.
Sára Poloučková (UPOL)