Hecuba, not Hecuba which premiered at the theatre Festival d'Avignon in July this year will be presented to the Belgrade audience in September, at the Bitef festival. It was born from a collaboration of two of the most prominent theatre institutions in France: Comédie-Française and Festival d'Avignon. Euripides' tragedy was directed and adapted by Tiago Rodrigues.
The French institute has many reasons to look forward to presenting this piece in Belgrade.
The first reason is excellence: Comédie-Française, founded in 1680, is the oldest theatre in France with a permanent ensemble. Festival d'Avignon, founded in 1947 by Jean Vilar, is one of the most important and most progressive festivals of the contemporary theatre in the world. Serbian audience will also have an opportunity to meet Tiago Rodrigues and his work for the first time, performed by the Comédie-Française troop.
The second reason is courage: Tiago Rodrigues, theatre director and curator of the Festival d'Avignon, adapted the famous Greek tragedy and transposed it into the contemporary times. Bitef, ever recognisable by its insistence on high standards when it comes to the artistic level of the programme, has once again affirmed the tradition of collaboration with the French institute in Serbia. Bitef's artistic team put its trust in this performance even before it premiered, knowing that it carries a strong message about humanity and the society we are living in today.
Finally, the third reason is encounter: Aside from Belgrade, Hecuba will visit Athens, Ljubljana, Bucharest and Istanbul. Tiago Rodrigues, former director of the Dona Maria II theatre in Lisbon, both in his work as director and festival curator, values European values above all, culturally and geographically, as well as dialogue and openness to others. We are particularly pleased by this regional dimension because of Teatroskop, programme the French institute developed precisely in order to further collaboration in the field of performing arts between Southeast Europe and France. So, performance in Belgrade will set a fine framework for presenting the work of Comédie-Française and Festival d'Avignon through conferences and round tables, as well as for the organisation of professional meetups in the perspective of long term collaboration between France and Serbia in the context of theatre.
For all of these reasons, Hecuba in Belgrade will be one of the most important events of the season and we await it with great excitement.
Hosting Hecuba, not Hecuba is part of the French cultural season Rhythm of French Culture, realised in collaboration with the general sponsor Telekom Srbija, MPC Properties and Ile-de-France line of products by Mlekoprodukt company.
