DECAMERON

Co-production

YU CITY THEATER PODGORICA (Montenegro)

BAR CULTURAL CENTER – BAR CHRONICLE FESTIVAL, BAR (Montenegro)

and NIŠ NATIONAL THEATER (Serbia)

Running time:  2 hours and 20 minutes

A WORD FROM THE AUTHORS OF THE SHOW DECAMERON

The plague is ravaging Europe, millions of dead, the year is 1348, there is no cure, no hope, no consolation, no rational thinking. Social isolation is the only way to survive. Boccaccio places a group of young people in isolation who will resist illness and death by telling stories, enjoying life, gifted moments of happiness in the environment of the Apocalypse. If Boccaccio did it, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t do it too in the theatrical viewing of the Decameron. And then let’s look for the common denominators of this time and medieval Florence. It is incredible how many motifs match, how similar it is, how unnecessary the mechanistic and violent translation into the present. Humorous observation, irony and absurdity are the poetic means we resorted to in order to defend Man against Disease, Dogma, Stupidity and manipulative humiliations.

Dejan PROJKOVSKI, director

Stevan KOPRIVICA, dramaturge

EXCERPT FROM THE INTERVIEW
DECAMERON – Koprivica: Seven centuries later some things are identical

“I tried to respect Boccaccio and one of the greatest Renaissance literary works, and on the other hand, that it concerns us today, that the piece be something that is interesting and current for the viewer, and that we find common denominators between the Renaissance and today. Together with the director, we found a theatrical, relevant way to read this work. Seven centuries later some things are identical. Manipulation, dogma, disease after all, because the plague is similar to covid. Social isolation, low interests, these are all things that we still encounter today, that were present then and that have outcomes that we can laugh at, but in essence are tragic,” said Koprivica.

(…) “At the center of the story is a man and his idea of personal freedom and choices,” says Projkovski, recalling that the plague that ravaged Florence and the Covid that hit us two years ago represent a perfect parallel.

“We all know what we lost then and we forget what we have when we have freedom. We created a play based on the Decameron, but we added stories related to the Renaissance, about Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Petrarch, Alighieri. I think we have a specific show with a contemporary stage language that we all created together, through this two-month theater laboratory.”

Bar Chronicle
Published on 27 July, 2023.