On the occasion of Candlemas – Serbian Statehood Day, two children’s plays premiered at the Serbian Drama Theater in Chicago in the crowded Nikola Tesla Cultural Center at the Church of St Nicholas, to the great satisfaction of the audience over little actors managing to overcome the huge linguistic challenge after months of effort.

Little acting lovers originating from different parts of Serbia and Republic of Srpska – from Babin Most near Priština, Leskovac, Ćuprija, Novi Sad and Belgrade, to Banja Luka, Mostar, Trebinje, Novi Grad, performed Čudna šuma (Strange forest) consisting of songs and short stories, while those older performed a part of the piece Ko se zadnji smeje (He who laughs last) written especially for them by Silvija Otaševich from Miami, born in Doboj, winner of Matica iseljenika first prize for children’s literature, author of two books declared the best by Belgrade students.

Theater manager and director Igor Obradović worked devotedly with little actors for almost a year preparing the plays that were a great challenge for everyone, as the parents state unanimously, so today they are proud that no one gave up.

Ko se zadnji smeje is a story about the students of a class in which everyone except Marko made the same mistakes in a written assignment. Marija, Milutin, Marta, Katja, Uroš, Sofija, Mihailo, Marko and Mia, knowing that their parents would reproach them with ‘How come Marko got everything right again,’ decide that none of them will go to his birthday party and not only that. The play, at times causing laughter and at times touching one’s emotions, is interwoven with the most brilliant facts of Serbian-American history and performed with the moral support of the Directorate for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region. The youngest actors of the great ensemble of the Serbian Drama Theater – Vasilija, Petar, two Milas, Dunja, Neda, Vukan, Nikolina, Lana and Simona showed that, regardless of their living thousands of kilometers away from Serbia, they had in their hearts the same songs that generations had grown up with, said Obradović, whose enthusiasm made Lyons Chicago reverberate with the verses of Miš je seo u džip (The mouse sat in a Jeep), U svetu postoji jedno carstvo (There is a kingdom in the world), etc.

Father Nemanja recalled that children learned their language, identity and history through socializing and plays.

‘There is no insisting on that in the USA, that is why our children are less proud of who they are, but through socializing, plays and studying, they learn about our people, about Tesla, our greats, and become proud Serbs,’ Father Nemanja said.

He noted that the Super Bowl was underway, but despite this big event, a huge number of people had come, thus according to him, proving there was hope for us.

‘It is important to try to explain certain things to children in a modern way, through the examples they experience every day, which makes it much clearer and easier for them to find their way in the environment in which they live and grow up. And that is why I think this is a big undertaking,’ said Father Nemanja, who has six children, three of whom are little actors.

The play was also attended by BiH Consul General in Chicago, Tatjana Telić, and representatives of numerous Serbian media in Chicago.

‘It was splendid, we enjoyed it, it was a great challenge for all the children, and the biggest advantage, in addition to the friendship they developed, is preservation of the Serbian language,’ said Telić.

The theater is part of the Church of St Nicholas, which has become one of the most recognizable in Chicago thanks to the archpriest Nemanja Tešić, purchase of a large church property, cultural and sports activities for the youngest.

Source: Nezavisne novine

Photo: Antonije Kovačević, Saša Lukić