Members of the “Enabled Theatre” Project production team led by Director of the “Grad teatar” Festival Milena Lubarda-Marojević, director HarisPašović and Artistic director of Drama of the Serbian National Theatre (SNP) on Saturday, April 8th held the final, fourth workshop at the Public Institution Day Centre for children and adolescents with disabilities “Biseri” in Budva.
Members of the Project team talked to Ivona Medigović, a twenty-four-year-old woman who has been suffering from incurable and progressive spinal muscular atrophy since the age of six months. Ivona’s discursive apparatus is completely preserved. She is verbal, articulates her thoughts remarkably, is highly intelligent, writes poetry and is very engaged as an activist for improving the conditions for the disabled in the city. Ivona enjoys great support from her family, peers and the entire community. She emphasized that it was this unreserved support that helped her build and maintain a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards life.
Members of the Project team then spoke with eighteen-year-old Matija Molčanov, who suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, a neurobiological developmental disorder from the group of autistic disorders that occur more often in males. As the child of a musician, mother Ana Brajak, a flautist and teacher at the Music School in Kotor, and father Oleksij Molčanov, a pianist and regular professor at the Music Academy in Cetinje, Matija inherited a fantastic talent for music. As a three-year-old, he could recognize notes and with the enormous dedication of his mother over the past fifteen years, he became an excellent pianist.
Finally, members of the Project team spoke with Dušan Krivokapić, born in 1985 in Nikšić, living in Budva. Dušan was born at six months old, he spent two months in an incubator where he lost vital signs twice. At birth, he was diagnosed with the most severe form of cerebral palsy and the doctor’s prognosis indicated that he would spend his entire life in a wheelchair. His family did not accept those predictions and traveled all over the former Yugoslavia in search of the best care. Dušan spent his entire life in physiotherapy and training, thanks to which he built a strong body and an unwavering spirit. Today he moves on his own, lives alone and is completely independent.
At the end of the day, the members of the Project team exchanged impressions and opinions after a very successful series of workshops in Budva and defined further activities as part of the international co-production of a theatrical performance.
Photos: Slaven Vilus
April 8th 2023.