Margaret Atwood Play Headlines Tivat Festival in Montenegro

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad in a Canada/Montenegro co-production Headlines Tivat Festival in Montenegro

Artistic Director of April Productions, Dragana Varagic, who recently performed and directed a presentation of her acclaimed solo The Vindication of Senyora Clito Mestres at Theatre Passe Muraille, directs The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood in a Canada / Montenegro co-production, opening Saturday, July 28 as a highlight of the "Purgatorio" festival in Tivat on the Adriatic Coast. The Canadian Ambassador to Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro in Belgrade is on the guest list for opening night as well as other dignitaries.

Toronto-based April Productions and the Tivat Cultural Centre (one of the most important presenters and producers in the region) are the co-producers of this play by one of Canada's most revered writers in a new translation by Serbian Bojana Vujin (who also translated Atwood's novel of the same name into the local language). The production uniquely connects Atwood's play with its original mythical Mediterranean setting.

The April Productions/Tivat Cultural Centre co-production is a collaboration between Canadian artists and artists from Montenegro and the surrounding region. The playwright (Margaret Atwood), director (Dragana Varagic), set designer (Kathleen Irwin), composer (Aleksandar Gajic), three musicians and project administrator (Sheila Sky) are Canadian; the all-female cast, costume designer and lighting designer represent the Montenegro team.

Historically, the "Purgatorio." festival has focused primarily on the works of artists from the Mediterranean region or works with Mediterranean themes. This year the program is focusing on Canadian culture and this international co-production with a Mediterranean theme, written by an icon of Canadian culture and presented in collaboration with a Canadian company, was conceived as a festival highlight. It anchors the Canadian offerings that include a concert and an art exhibition featuring works by Canadians.

The Penelopiad is Atwood's response to Homer's ancient epic Greek poem, The Odyssey. She tells the story from the point of view of Penelope, destined to spend eternity in Hades where she remains haunted by her twelve maids who her warrior-king husband Odysseus ordered murdered upon his return home after 20 years at battle, believing them to be disloyal.

Varagic takes her inspiration from Brecht for this production and  transports this contemporary Canadian play back to its Mediterranean roots and setting where it will be surrounded with an audience whose culture is firmly grounded in myths and legends, thereby allowing for an exciting resonance and echoing of the multiple layers of the play.

At the same time, it will introduce a modern and Canadian perspective on the importance of women's voices.

Produced with the support of the Canada Council International Program and under the patronage of the Canadian Embassy in Belgrade and the City of Tivat, general sponsorship for the co-production comes from Porto Montenegro, the biggest Canadian investment in the Balkans.

Over the last decade, the Tivat Cultural Centre has developed an impressive history of exciting multi-disciplinary cultural programming and has become a major centre for cultural tourism and industry networking. Last year the festival presented over 40 theatre and dance productions from the region of the former Yugoslavia and other Mediterranean countries. To place it in a Canadian context, it would be akin in aesthetics and size to Harbourfront Centre's World Stage festival (including the theatre, dance, and visual art component combined), but held in a rural setting akin to Stratford or Shaw.

April Productions was invited to undertake this co-production because of Varagic's ongoing efforts to introduce Canadian plays and Canadian artists to the artistic directors of the major professional theatres and festivals in the region of the former Yugoslavia. April Productions also has previous international experience in the region as it toured its The VindicationŠ in collaboration with the National Theatre in Belgrade.

DRAGANA VARAGIC – Dragana Varagic spent twelve years at the National Theatre in Belgrade where she won major awards for her work, both on stage and on television. She emigrated to Canada nineteen years ago and continued her career here. Dragana has worked as an actor, director and teacher across the country. Her acting credits include Have I None, Not My Story, The Vindication of Senyora Clito Mestres (April Productions – also director), Biography: A Game (Atrium Theatre/Artword), Daughters of Sheherzad (Modern Times Stage Company), The Witch of Edmonton, Scenes From an Execution and To Damascus (EST), Pauline and Turgenev (GCTC), The Catalan Plays (Persephone Theatre) and Kindertransport (Persephone/WJT). Directing credits include Dantes Divinus (Dalhousie Arts Centre), Not My Story (April Productions/Artword Theatre), Princess T. (Centre for Graduate Studies of Drama, University of Toronto), Snow-White and Her 7-8 Helpers (Solar Stage), Happiness Channel (Toronto Fringe) and Miracles of Make-do (Toronto Fringe). She has taught acting in the Theatre Programs of Dalhousie University and the University of Windsor and conducted workshops at the Belgrade Faculty of Dramatic Arts and the Royal Holloway College, University of London, England. In addition to her Dora nomination for Outstanding Actress for her work in The VindicationŠ, Dragana is also a recipient of major theatre awards in the former Yugoslavia. Her direction of The VindicationŠ at Theatre Passe Muraille in March 2012, like The Penelopiad, beams with both classical and modern references. The Penelopiad represents a further development of her interest and work on new renderings of classical texts.