Art Comedy Fest in Konjic: The play “Once Upon a Time on Brijuni” performed

 

Tonight in Konjic, as part of the 2nd Art Comedy Fest, the play “Once Upon a Time on Brijuni” was performed

The play, written and directed by Kokan Mladenović, is inspired by a real historical meeting between two legendary couples – Josip Broz Tito and Jovanka Broz, and Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.

The theatrical production, featuring Branislav Trifunović and Sanja Marković as the Broz couple, and Milan Marić and Tihana Lazović as Burton and Taylor, sparked great interest and enthusiasm among the Konjic audience, who filled the cinema hall of the JU Narodni univerzitet, the festival’s organizer.

After the performance, Branislav Trifunović stated that, after two and a half years, they had finally managed to arrange the play’s guest appearance in Konjic.

“We organized our own schedule, Benjamin Mušinović was persistent, and I’m glad we are finally here. It was worth it because of the hospitality of the entire city and all its people. This meant a lot to us on a personal level, and Konjic is also mentioned in the play,” Trifunović said, noting that the play was created based on a single photograph taken on Brijuni featuring the four main protagonists.

“They spent three days together on Brijuni, alone, and that became our starting point—not only in terms of the four of them, but also the actors themselves, the meeting of two worlds, capitalism and communism, the clash between two systems, and us within that world. This text contains many of our personal elements that can be connected both to each of us individually and to the characters we portray, which made the process exciting while we were creating it and while performing it as well. This was our 90th performance,” Trifunović stated.

Milan Marić said that it was interesting for them to begin the story by addressing the question of identity and the roles we all play in life.

“We do not portray the four of them in a realistic manner; we treat them as symbols. There are not many records of that meeting, and that made it interesting for us to begin the research phase of the process. The play is demanding—almost two hours of continuous performance—and is largely based on our own inspiration, but we love performing it,” Marić said, emphasizing that theatre fascinates him because the exchange between the people on stage and the audience creates a unique story.

The aim of the Art Comedy Fest is to strengthen the region’s tourism potential through film and theatre arts and cultural activities. The festival is designed so that participants, during their stay in Konjic, can explore the area’s tourist attractions and cultural-historical landmarks. In this spirit, the actors from the play “Once Upon a Time on Brijuni” and their collaborators had the opportunity to get to know Konjic from this perspective as well and to enjoy local culinary specialties offered under the “Made in Konjic” initiative.

Source of text and photos: Radio Konjic- https://radiokonjic.ba/art-comedy-fest-u-konjicu-odigrana-predstava-bilo-jednom-na-brijunima/