THE GRETA GARBO’S SECRET

melodrama

PREMIERE: 25th February 2012.
Madlenianum Opera and Theatre, Large Stage

Spring 2012 in “Madlenianum” is certainly in the sign of Greta Garbo and the performance premiered on 25th February on the Large stage, by Miro Gavran’s text and directed by Djurdja Tesic. “The Greta Garbo’s Secret” drama, with our diva, Tanja Boskovic in the title role, reverberated while still having been prepared, as an artistic experience that must not be missed. After the gala premiere, attended by the author of this drama himself, together with numerous eminent guests giving greeting ovations to the performance, already in the first month of repeat performances almost three thousand viewers wanted to see the latest accomplishment of the “Madlenianum” drama scene.   
The play “Greta Garbo’s Secret” has been reviewed by the professional audience as the work that before all captures by the magic of acting creations. Tanja Boskovic stars one of her life roles, unpretentiously and fearlessly reviving “Devine Greta”, as an approachable and fragile person, simple in her longing for love, warmth and protection.  In previous seasons Belgrade stages have had a lack of space and the adequate role for a luxurious gift of Tanja Boskovic and her acting charisma is by all estimations the fantastic connection with the character that Miro Gavran created in his drama about Greta Garbo. Tanja Boskovic revived Greta who, in her interpretation, you cannot resist to love and always take her side. She has done what was necessary for the success of the play: she made us believe her that the story of Greta was possible and doubtlessly the convincing one.  
Jovana Balasevic, starring a young psychiatrist Jovana Balašević, proved through this role her talent to play the most diverse characters and her wonderful curtness in choosing subtle acting means of expression, which truly were the only solution in creating her “girl who knows how to listen”. Miodrag Krstovic, starring Greta’s life companion from the shadow, created the pillar of real gentlemanly manners and dignity which was necessary in the play, as a counterpart to Tanja’s femininity and refinement.  Petar Bencina has proved that he is the adequate actor to play a young man who has a charm and manly energy and actually, the whole story would not be possible without it, as the weirdest love waves which are a part of the play, would not be moved without his extraordinary creation.
Djurdja Tesic has directed it in an elegant, decent, but simultaneously warm way, not omitting to use properly all melodramatic moments. She has also managed to follow, in accordance with the title containing the word “secret”, the line of psychological thriller that exists in the text of the play as well. She led the actors toward the essence, without binding them with any solutions that would interfere with safe swimming in their own creations. She has chosen the perfect associates, Zorana Petrov (scenographer) and Jelisaveta Tatic Cuturilo (costume designer), who symbiotically brought the glamour, indispensable to the theme, as well as the preciseness in reducible solutions. The visual aspects of the play make great contribution to acting and storytelling, but the same is done by the authorial music of the composer Vladimir Pejkovic, which has the best film music spirit from the period of achievements Greta Garbo has glittered in.  The video works in the play which also have Pejkovic’s music in the background, conceived by Djurdja Tesic, have been made at the Zepter Creative Studio and they create a part of the play that in a perfect way through the most romantic light takes us back to the period of several decades ago. 
The writer Miro Gavran who, after the premiere of the same drama in Slovakia with their top actors and before the premiere in Los Angeles, attended Belgrade accomplishment, expressed his great satisfaction with the creations of the actors and the whole authorial crew in whole. He has, as the author represented on the worldwide stages, compared the artistic and production elements of the premiere at “Madlenianum” with some of his best theatre achievements.  The magic of Miro Gavran’s drama, “Greta Garbo’s Secret”, noticeable even in its title, has brought to the stage of “Madlenianum” a play that attracts the audience giving them the opportunity to travel for an hour and a half to another, washed and dignified world, where they are able to see an unusual love intrigue as well, in which the participant is maybe the most mysterious Hollywood’s lady, unique and worshiped Greta Garbo.