The Croatian National Theatre,Osijek

Dušan Kovačević

Maratonci trče počasni krug

Direction and adaptation: Olja Đorđević

Scenography: Ljubica Petrović

Costume design: Dubravka Skvrce

Stage speech coaching collaborator: Saša Latinović

Choreography: Andreja Kulešević

Music: Irena Popović / Nikola Dragović

Songs: Danica Nikolić Nikolić

Cast: Aljoša Čepl, Miroslav Čabraja, Duško Modrinić, Antonio Jakupčević, Ivica Lučić, Vladimir Tintor, Matija Kačan, Petra Bernarda Blašković, Ivana Soldo Čabraja

One doesn’t even manage to finish saying the name of the title “Maratonci trče počasni krug” and yet numerous associations connected to it come to mind. It is hard to forget the numerous scenes, dialogues and acting as such from one of the most famous movies of the Balkan Region. In the general cultural consciousness of the  Balkans Topalovići, or to be more precise: the funeral home, characters that are seemingly 150 years old, the reading of the will and many similar motifs have found their place. It is maybe a less known fact that the play Kovačević  wrote when he was at his third year of dramaturgy studies in 1972  had preceded the film. Soon afterwards, the setting for the play became a part of “Atelje 212” with Ljubomir Draškić as  the director. The legendary movie based on the  play directed by Slobodan Šijan was realized ten years later and the rest is history. Years pass and  yet the popularity of this play doesn’t  falter  but on the contrary the story gets new admirers by the minute. What makes the story attractive are the refined dialogues, fantastic characters and of course out of the ordinary plot mocking death and false morals. According to the author it is a story of the oldest Balkan family- so old that even death cannot shake its foundations.