Nathan the Wise

Production: Yugoslav Drama theatre, Belgrade, Serbia

Premiere date: 9.3.2019.

Writer: Gothold Ephraim Lessing

Translator: Aleksandra Bajazetov

Dramaturge: Dimitrije Kokanov

Stage movement: Maja Kalafatić

Set design: Jasmina Holbus

Costume design: Selena Orb

Composer: Misha Cvijović

CAST

Nathan - Bojan Dimitrijević

Reha - Milica Gojković

Saladin - Srđan Timarov

Knight templar - Joakim Tasić

Deacon - Miodrag Dragičević

Nany - Dubravka Kovjanić

Lessing wrote a political comedy that, because of its theme, leaves the impression that it could have been written today. In the original, a didactic play, Lessing, advocating for peace and tolerance, tackles religious intolerance, migrations, wars from various angles. Given the current political moment, it is clear why the play is popular and frequently performed throughout Europe today. Besides all of the above, what attracted me to this work is the poetic language, vivid characters, humor - because my personal feeling of the present is close to absurdity, so that in tragic (socio-political) circumstances, humor and cynicism go hand in hand and hit the target. Through radical adaptation, didacticism is suppressed in order to open up the question of what it means today to be considered wise, and what happens when other determinants of our identity - social roles, political positions, religion, or family - betray us, or when we betray them