Monday, 6th May 2024, 7:30pm
Croatian House of Culture in Sušak
Kerempuh Satirical Theatre, Zagreb
Branislav NUŠIĆ: The bereaved family
Director: Ivan Plazibat
Cast: Hrvoje Kečkeš, Marko Makovičić, Matija Šakoranja, Luka Petrušić, Filip Detelić, Vilim Matula, Branka Trlin, Linda Begonja, Mia Anočić-Valentić/Mirela Videk Hranjec, Anita Matić Delić, Josipa Anković
Dramaturge: Nikolina Rafaj
Set designer: Paola Lugarić
Costume designer: Petra Pavičić
Stage movement assistant: Damir Klemenić
Composer: Tamara Obrovac
Lighting designer: Vesna Kolarec
Premiere: 17th March 2023
Running time: 100 minutes
In The Bereaved Family, Branislav Nušić, one of the greatest Serbian comedy writers, dissects the incessant greed of family members gathered after a (near or distant) relative’s funeral, where the apparent grief for the deceased is soon revealed to be a cover for a merciless fight over his inheritance. The ease of manufacturing lies within Nušić’s family in order to accumulate more property, more power and more status is like a car running rampant, exposing the polished menagerie with each new turn of the wheels. Nušić’s blade cuts deep into the layers of the social fabric without losing its edge, proving again and again his ability to skilfully map human pathologies that exceed both spatial and temporal frames. As long as we witness a society with so many jumping down people’s throats and stabbing them in the back, Nušić remains a diagnostician ready to give an unfavourable diagnosis: condition – unchanged.
From the reviews:
“Kerempuh’s The Bereaved Family (…) is not afraid to lift their dirty carpet and show exactly what lying to one’s face, constant insulting and bland condescension towards authorities looks like. Thanks to Kerempuh cast, we have a gripping play reverberating with fierce grotesque, which might make it the audience’s darling. It seems to me that it could easily win a Festival’s title too.”
Nataša Govedić, Novi list