I van Bosiljčić is an actor who guarantees the unreserved adora- tion of audiences with his performances. We could discuss his unforgettable roles in films, TV series and theatre shows, but we have good reason to focus on two roles for which he will be re- membered on the stage of Terazije Theatre. Here we’re talking about Loiko Zobar and Mane, two men who perhaps formally speak differ- ent languages, but whose hearts understand the universal language of freedom and love. He will play the the main protagonist in the leg- endary play Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven, for the 300 th time this month, while as Mane he will win over his Zona Zamfirova in the ju- bilee 100 th performance of this play. You have given them both a voice and stature, but to start with the older one, Zobar the Gypsy, with whom you also matured and earned your own stature... How does Zobar feel after suf- fering for his Radda three hundred times? - I’ve spent the past 15 years interpreting the role of Loiko Zo- bar, a character from the stories of Maxim Gorky, but those 15 years are nothing compared to the centuries of human striving and long-
Uspeli smo da napravimo autentičnog Maneta za koga bi svaki Nišlija mogao da kaže da ga poznaje We succeeded in creating an authentic Mane that every native of Niš could say that they recognise
ing for freedom. I’ve changed a lot in the skin of Zobar, as a man and as an artist, but he al- most hasn’t changed a bit! He has remained a rebel, a horse rustler who fears attachment and doesn’t understand that love is the most beautiful sacrifice a man can make. His fiery blood compels him to interpret love only as pas- sion, which is why he suffers again every time. You were a young actor, but also a young man, when you first played him. How have you learned from one another over all these years? - As the closest witness to Zobar’s fate, as someone who has played him three hundred times, I have learned well that love is freedom and that attachment to loved ones is freedom; that there should be longing for togetherness and not a rejection of it. The last act of this perfor- mance touches the essence of theatre through high catharsis. The entire ensemble bears wit- ness to people leaving the theatre after this play changed, more imaginative. Perhaps that’s al- so why they constantly return.
We live in the time of an existential vacuum, where people have everything but a motive to live. In such times, theatre is an environment that can draw a man in, embolden him, awaken him... Živimo u vreme egzistencijalnog vakuuma, kada ljudi imaju sve osim motiva za življenje. U takvom vremenu pozorište je ambijent koji čoveka može da trgne, da ga ohrabri, razbudi…
You once said that you are no longer sur- prised by the enduring nature of the play Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven, because you knew that Gypsy music is powerful... Or is the issue of freedom actually the reason for this story’s success? - One does not preclude the other. Music is one of the best lan- guages to express great emotions, and Gypsies have always expressed tales of their wanderings, sufferings, joys and longing for freedom through music. It is powerful, but the main principle of a musical is that when you can no longer express yourself through words, you sing when emotionally charged. This is the point at which Gypsy mu- sic and musicals as a theatrical form fuse, and that’s a fusion that guar- antees the cathartic qualities of this show. And the current nature of the topic of freedom, as a general topic of life, is today more than obvious. We live in the time of an existential vacuum, where peo- ple have everything but a motive to live. In such times, theatre is an environment that can draw a man in, embolden him, awaken him... You are celebrating another anniversary at Terazije Theatre this May, with the hundredth performance of Stevan Sremac’s famous play Zona Zamfirova. How is your Mane? - Perhaps I wouldn’t be the best to describe Mane from my per- spective, so I will paraphrase the words of Kokan Mladenović, this
Kao najbliži svedok Zobarove sudbine, kao neko ko ga je ispovedio 300 puta, dobro sam naučio da je ljubav sloboda As the closest witness to Zobar’s fate, as someone who has played him three hundred times, I have learned well that love is freedom
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