GYPSIES ARE FOUND NEAR HEAVEN
drama
Inspired by the story „MAKAR CHUDRA“ by Maxim Gorki
DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY
Desimir Stanojević (born in 1950 in Niš) is an actor who performed more than 80 roles at the National Theatre in Niš from 1970 to 1990. Selected roles include: Đido – Milić, Ivko’s Feast – Neko, Eternal Students – Šef, The Forest – Nesrećković, Zona Zamfirova – Mane, The Adventures of Nikolay the Bursać – Nikolina, Don Juan Returns from the War – Don Juan, Father on a Business Trip – Father.
Since 1990, he has been engaged at the Terazije Theatre, where he has performed more than 30 roles. Selected roles include: Zorba the Greek – Zorba, Fiddler on the Roof – Tevye, The Marathon Family – Laki Topalović, Ivko’s Feast – Kalča, The Three Musketeers – Richelieu, Gypsies Are Found in Heaven – Talimon and Father Zobar, The Jubilee – Lead Actor. He has also performed at other theatres in Belgrade, including the Belgrade Drama Theatre, Slavija Theatre and Little Theatre “Puž.”
He has appeared in television series, dramas and films produced both domestically and internationally, including Happy People, Peasants, The Village Burns, and the Grandmother Combs Her Hair, We Will Be the World Champions, Lager Niš, as well as RAI productions such as Toulouse Lautrec, Caravaggio, Lo scandalo della banca romana, Paura di amare and Restauratore.
He recorded five full-length television variety shows for RTS and RTV: Let a Song Hurt, And My Beautiful Dreams Came Crashing Down, An Evening at the Theatre, Musicals for All Time, and Kalča’s Stories – Children’s Songs, as well as four albums for PGP RTS.
He has directed more than 10 productions, including Fiddler on the Roof, the first musical in the history of the Niš Theatre, The Tavern at Everyone’s, Sima Comes Home and Fishing on the Asphalt.
He participated in eight festivals of popular, traditional urban and children’s music, including “Manager” in Belgrade, “Belgrade Spring,” “Tamburica” in Novi Sad and “Niš Autumn,” where he was a two-time winner.
He is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions in the fields of theatre, television and music.
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
Drawing on my experience with musicals at the Terazije Theatre, and following the success of the musical Fiddler on the Roof in Niš, which I directed and performed in, I wanted to continue developing musicals on the Niš stage and to ensure that Niš, alongside Belgrade and Novi Sad, would include this popular genre in its repertoire. At the invitation of the ensemble and management of the Niš Theatre, I chose the musical Gypsies Are Found in Heaven, because Niš has the potential to realize such a demanding form, with its National Theatre, Puppet Theatre, choirs, ballet groups, the Academic Theatre of the Student Cultural Centre, acting schools, and professionals in music, sound design, choreography and arranging.
The dramatic adaptation of Gypsies Are Found in Heaven was created in collaboration with Nada Stanojević, based on motifs from Maxim Gorky’s short story Makar Chudra. Gorky created “his” Gypsies by following the extraordinary romantic love of Radda and Zobar across the vast Russian steppe. Our desire was to enrich his Gypsies with communities in which there are no submissive or weak people, but rather people who love life, freedom, song and dance. Such Gypsies are the only ones who can “fly into the sky.” The earth is too confining for them.
Traditional Russian Gypsy music, full of intensity and emotion, to which both the heart and the body respond, completes this unique love story and places it alongside Romeo and Juliet.
When is this performance playing?
You can find all upcoming dates on the Repertoire page.
BASIC INFORMATION
Genre
Drama
Age
14+
Premiere
December 16, 2017
Stage
Main Stage
CREATIVE TEAM
Text
Based on the short story “Makar Chudra” by Maxim Gorky
Adaptation
Nada and Desimir Stanojević
Direction and Music Selection
Desimir Stanojević
Arrangement of Traditional Russian Roma Music and Sound Design
Borivoje Mladenović
Composition “Drumovi”
Igor Dunjić – music, Željko Mijanović – lyrics
Music Editor and Choir and Soloist Supervisor
Prof. Dr. Suzana Kostić
Set Designer
Ivana Savić
Costume Designer
Dejan Gocić
Choreographer
Nebojša Gromilić
Language Editor
Nataša Ilić
Roma Language Consultant
Nebojša Saitović
Makeup Design
Filip Cvetković
Photography
Nikola Milosavljević
Poster and Program Design
Marina Antić
Repetiteur
M.A. Ivana Mirović
Assistant Director
Nađa Nedović Tekinder
Director’s Secretary
Ivana Zarkov
Assistant Costume Designer
Marina Stevanović
Production Associate
Nada Stanojević
Organizer
Ana Veljković
CAST
Radda
Maja Vukojević Cvetković
Loiko Zobar
Aleksandar Marinković
Makar Chudra
Mirko Đorđević
Zobar’s Mother
Ivana Nedović
Mother Kavanda – Radda’s Mother
Vesna Stanković
Talimon (Zobar’s Friend)
Stefan Mladenović
Bubulya (Zobar’s Friend, Gambler)
Miloš Cvetković
Aralambi (Zobar’s Friend)
Miloš Unić (guest)
Dalibog (Zobar’s Friend) and Gendarme Fedya
Uroš Milojević (guest)
Rusalina – Zobar’s Sister
Katarina Arsić
Roma Woman Sanda
Jovana Grozdanović (guest)
Count Antal
Miroslav Jović
Buča – Chicken Thief
Danilo Petrović
Balint – Russian, Landowner, Horse Buyer
Marjan Todorović
Roma Woman Ninka
Maja Banković
Roma Woman Varya
Jelena Radenković (guest)
Lieutenant I
Toma Bibić (guest)
Lieutenant II and Shvob
Nikola Cekić (guest)
Lieutenant III
Dejan Gocić (guest)
Mayor
Dragan Tričković (guest)
Mayor’s Wife
Petra Nešić (guest)
Priest and Nur
Nenad Cvetanović (guest)
Soldier I
Jovan Perišić (guest)
Soldier II
Miloš Mitrović (guest)
Istvan – Balint’s Servant
Marko Paulus (guest)
Count Antal’s Servant
Srđan Simić (guest)
Ballet
Jovana Simić, Danica Ničić, Jelena Mihajlović, Natalija Stojiljković, Bratislav Ranković, Dušan Stojiljković
Choir
Silvija Nešić, Mila Pužić, Jovana Đorđević, Marko Milisavljević, Miloš Vukman, Nikola Savić, Petar Ilić, Luka Gutović
Radda and Zobar’s Roma Camp
Nevena Petković, Anastasija Rančić, Emilija Ranđelović, Jana Savić, Iva Petronijević/Marta Đorđević alt., Neda Vuković/Tamara Krstić alt., Ksenija Dimitrijević/Nevena Dimitrijević alt., Teodora Stojković, Anđela Krstić, Una Rakić
TECHNICAL TEAM
Head of Technical Department
Ljubiša Živković
Technical Coordinator
Zoran Ilić
Stage Manager
Dobrila Marjanović
Prompter
Aleksandra Vukov
Lighting Technicians
Dejan Cvetković, Nemanja Pavlović
Sound Engineer
Slobodan Ilić
Stage Technician
Slaviša Filipović
Stage Effects
Nemanja Pavlović
Lighting Technicians
Dejan Mitić, Nemanja Pavlović, Dragoslav Dobrosavljević
Set Decorators
Marin Rajić, Miodrag Đorđević
Props Managers
Marko Đorđević, Dragan Nikolić
Wardrobe
Dušica Mladenović, Marko Dinić
Makeup and Wig Artists
Ljiljana Rašić, Marija Pešić, Ivana Lazarević
Tailoring
Marina Stevanović, Vladimir Pekić, Dragana Grozdanović
Workshop
Bogoljub Đorđević, Dragan Perić, Branislav Nikolić, Goran Stanković
Painting
Vladimir Krstić
Procurement
Zoran Denčić
Driver
Nebojša Šarčević