The slipped disc

It is difficult to foresee the lengths the characters of Ingrid Lausund’s play are ready to go to in order to keep their place within the system. In this world, everything is for sale. To them, there is no greater joy than a rival brought to his knees whilst at the same time they bow to the one who is a rung higher on the hierarchical ladder. Their dance through the traps set by the corporate capitalism does not imply ‘clean hands’. That much is clear. Their arsenal includes tripping, bitterness, humiliation, arrogance, superficiality, passive or open aggression and other activities which, on their own, need not be all that attractive… Unless they are performed with a smile. Everything is easier with a plaster smile. And everything is acceptable.

How many times have you been in a situation to see yourself as expendable merchandise, to receive a ‘drip by drip’ reward for your efforts, how many times have you lost your ‘backbone’ at the photocopying speed without even being aware of it… That is reality. And everything is OK. That is, if you can sleep untroubled…

VELJKO MIĆUNOVIĆ (1986), theatre director, graduated from the University of Arts in Belgrade, Faculty of Dramatic Arts, under Professor Egon Savin. As assistant director he collaborated with Yiri Menzel and Paolo Magelli. Following his exam play, based on Georges Feydeau’s text, Hey, Cut Out the Parading Stark Naked!, he put on Hunting Cockroaches (Yugoslav Drama Theatre), Othello (Theatre City Budva/Zetski Dom/Festival), The Life Before Us, Death of a Salesman, My Three Angels (Belgrade Drama Theatre), The Government Inspector, The Tragic Burlesque, The Suicide (Montenegrin National Theatre, Podgorica), Dust, The Misunderstanding (National Theatre in Belgrade), The Dresser (SNG Maribor), The Feast (Zvezdara Theatre), Slipped Disc (National Theatre Subotica). The plays that he directed were performed and won awards at more than twenty festivals, both locally and abroad, including at: SterijinoPozorje - Novi Sad, Drama Festival - Ljubljana, Festival MESS - Sarajevo, Ex Ponto - Ljubljana, Yugoslav Theatre Festival - Užice, Theatre City - Budva, Small Scenes Festival - Rijeka…