With the theatrical play “Alice in Fearland” by Eva Mahković, directed by Aleksandar Popovski, and performed by the actors from the Yugoslav Drama Theater in Belgrade, the curtain was lowered last night on the 64th edition of the “Ohrid Summer” festival.
Weather conditions did not allow the play to be performed at the Ancient Theater, so the stage was quickly moved to the “Grigor Prlichev” Cultural Center. Director Aleksandar Popovski apologized to the audience for this change and thanked them for their patience given the unforeseen circumstances.
“I apologize for everything you went through. I know it’s not easy to wait, but believe me, we did everything we could. There is an incredible team here, both from Belgrade and Macedonia, who did a miracle by moving us in an hour and a half from the Ancient Theater to the Cultural Center. They worked for two days at the Ancient Theater to have the play there, but the sky wanted it differently. It’s truly wonderful to see that Ohrid has an audience for theater and culture. That’s the best thing,” said Popovski before the start of the play.
The actors from the Yugoslav Drama Theater from Belgrade, Serbia, delivered an outstanding theatrical performance on stage. The dramatic text of “Alice in Fearland” is inspired by Lewis Carroll’s book “Alice in Wonderland.”
“It is a journey through the subconscious of a young girl who faces all sorts of questions, from employment, success, love… and something that, for me, is a tragedy, so to speak, for young people, which is that if you’re not successful by 35, then it’s over for you. If you don’t achieve something by 35, then you’re no good. I hadn’t even finished college by 32. Back then, time was measured differently. We had time. Today, we teach children—there’s no time. We cut their time short, and I think that this phenomenon of pressure is a very interesting topic, and I think we managed to tell the story about the elasticity of time,” director Popovski emphasized.
This year, the 64th edition of the “Ohrid Summer” festival featured 36 events, including 25 concerts in the field of classical music, six theater performances, one exhibition, a book promotion, a stand-up show, and in the additional program, tickets were in high demand for the world-renowned Macedonian guitar virtuoso Vlatko Stefanovski. The festival’s anniversary this year was marked with a concert by the salsa ensemble “Mercadonegro.”
