In Whose Name

In Whose Name is a real drama story about the actors of the National Theater who were shot after the liberation of Niš in 1944. In a warm and lively manner, the play speaks about the suffering of an ordinary man trying to survive in the whirlwind of great social and political changes. The everlasting dilemma about choosing sides, but also about the freedom of an artist to struggle by means of art and for art in turbulent times, is the topic that strongly corresponds with the time we live in, depicting the model established by the changes in this region more than half a century ago.

A Note from the Author

Who will say to the victors that they do not have the right to spill a drop of blood in his/her name once the waves of history have raised up the scum of the society, and that sludge have blurred the view of truth and goodness, and when the time without the pure, impeccable, the faithful and merciful has come, and the shadows have disappeared under which a little man would so eagerly hide? That is the reason I wrote this play and that is the reason why it bears the title In Whose Name.

A Note from the Director

This piece attracted me because it addresses the conflict of the two worlds in an artistically honest way, and without ideological bias. On one side, there is the world of art, theatre, and acting, and on the other, the world of politics, ideology, and the political party. The world of politics and government may win the first battle, but a war with the world of art can never be won. There, that is the message of this play.

Aleksandar Mihailović was born in Niš in 1972, where he graduated from the Acting High School in the class of Miroslava Vuković Kurić in 1991. He graduated in acting from the Faculty of Arts, University of Priština, in the class of Professor Božidar Dimitrijević. As of 1997, he has been a member of the National Theater in Niš, where he still works. Between 2009 and 2013, he was the Art Director of the Academic Theater of the Student Cultural Centre in Nis. He has played in over 70 roles on the stage of the National Theater in Niš, but also on stages of theatres in Zaječar, Priština, Kragujevac, Kruševac, Pirot, and Leskovac … He has acted in about ten films and TV dramas. He has been awarded for some of these roles at over 15 festivals in the country and abroad. He has directed four and authored five theater plays: The Right has not Yet Been Born, in 2015, Ad Libitum, 2015, Easter on Moglena, 2016 In Whose Name and Happy New Year in 2017.

Milan Karadžić (born in Nikšić in 1956) graduated in theater directing in the class of professors Miroslav Belović and Nikola Jevtić from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade in 1986 with the play Don Juan at the Student Cultural Centre. He is art director-in-residence and stage director-in-residence at Boško Buha Theater.

He has directed over thirty plays for children at Boško Buha Theatre (selection: Sleeping Beauty, Emperor’s Prisoner, Vasilisa the Beautiful, Puss in Boots, Snow Queen, Three Musketeers, Beauty and Beast, Shargor, Pinocchio, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, Aladdin and the Magic Lamp…), as well as the Taming of the Shrewd, Handymen, Handymen, the Fair Burglar on the Evening Stage.

He has directed at almost all Belgrade stages: Puppet Theatre Pinocchio (Baš Čelik), National Theatre (Speech Disorder, Tears Are OK), Atelje 212 (Peg O’ My Heart, The Tour, Mixed Marriage, and Exhibitionist), Belgrade Drama Theatre (Rivals, Frederick, Villa Sašino, Transylvania, Harold and Maude), Zvezdara Theatre (Angela, Tre Sorelle), Terazije Theatre (Paradox).

He has also directed at the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad (Priests Ćira and Spira), at the National Theatre in Niš (Bereaved Family, The Taming of the Shrew), Montenegrin National Theatre (The School for Wives), City Theatre in Podgorica (Novella of Love, The Wedding of King Vukašin, Forever Yours, Love’s Labour’s Lost), Cultural Centre in Tivat (Trilogy of Boka–D-mol of Boka, Unnamed, Tavern on a Small Wave), Royal Theatre Zetski Dom in Cetinje (The Wizard), as well as in theatres in Sombor, Vršac, Leskovac, Zaječar, etc. He has directed TV series Bereaved Family (RTS, 1989), Mixed Marriage (2003 – 2007), Prime Minister (2007), Money or Life (2009) based on which a feature film was made (TV PINK), Budva on the Foam of the Sea (TV PRVA), and Neighbors (RTS).

Ha has also directed the films Change Me (2007) and Gorčilo (2015).

He has won two Sterija Awards and Bojan Stupica Award, Ardalion Award for Directing at Festival in Užice, Gita Predić Award for Directing at Boško Buha Theatre, Joakim Vujić Award, several awards at the festivals in Kotor, award at the Festival in Vršac, etc.