24 July 2019 - Of Mice and Men, a play based on the motives of the same short novel by John Steinbeck and directed by Dino Mustafić, will continue the drama programme of the 33. Theatre City Budva festival on Thursday, 25 July, as announced from the Theatre City Budva.Press. "Of Mice and Men" will be presented on the scene between the churches, starting at 9 pm. The show is a co-production of the Barski Ljetopis and the City Theatre from Podgorica.
Published in 1937, the novella tells the story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, that move from place to place in California in search of new job opportunities.
The title is taken from Robert Burns Burns' poem "To a Mouse", which reads: "The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley". (The best-laid schemes of mice and men / Often go awry.)
Director Dino Mustafic points out: "The novel happens in the thirties of the last century, during the period of Great Depression in America, but it can be read independently of whether we are familiar with the historical background, because poverty and difficult life of the latest social group of people is something that is always a current and significant topic.
Apart from the mentioned, in the center of the novel is the story of about the unusual friendship between George, a good and honest man, and Lennie, a great and powerful man with the mind of a young child. They make up the family, keeping each other to win loneliness and alienation, and there is also the motive of the American dream, as ubiquitous topics in American literature, but also the utopian philosophy that is close to my mind and ethics. For such an experience, it is not necessary to intervene in the literary material in order to bring the epoch closer to viewers. We live the same or worse social and political moment we recognize in our everyday life.
Of Mice and Men is a unique story that speaks touchingly about genuine friendship, the despair and hopelessness of people during the Great Depression and the collapse of the American dream, is has been told both existentialistically and emotionally. This timeless story makes this novel revolutionary for all time as it speaks of the right to life even when we are different from the majority. We are worried about the world that is being drastically dehumanised with every day and aggressive race for profit. We are becoming modern slaves, the donors of neoliberal capital that eagerly eats our fate and search for happiness, our right to dream, utopia, and a vision of a better and more just world."
Dramatization and dramaturgy are by Stela Mišković, costume design by Lina Leković and music by Tamara Obrovac. Tamara Obrovac is one of the most prominent and most versatile personalities in the Croatian music scene. She used the influence of Istrian folk music to make her musical expression, which gained her great popularity in recent years. In addition to the international concert, she holds concerts for ballet , theatre and film.
Starring Mišo Obradović, Miloš Pejović, Branko Ilić, Pavle Ilic, Vule Markovic, Marija Djuric, Dejan Djonovic and Bozidar Zuber.
