FAMILY STORIES: BELGRADE

By Biljana Srbljanovic
Translated and Directed by Bojana Novakovic
15th Oct – 2nd Nov 2008
At the Stablemates Griffin Theatre Darlinghurst

Family Stories: Belgrade is a violently skewed ‘Family Portrait’ of a developed nation in the process of imploding. It gives voice to a generation of people who grew up during a ten-year civil war and articulates what they lost over that time: an identity, a voice and the ability to develop opinions of their own.

A war is over, or it might not be. It is any time after 1999. The inflation rate is absurdly high, there are demonstrations in the streets, politicians wives are publishing self-help books, families are rationing food and kids are left unsupervised in their concrete playground.

On stage, or at the back of an apartment block, four adult actors play children who in turn play adults; mum, dad, son, daughter and the family dog. This is the game of Family Stories, a thrilling, hilarious, devastating parable of post war society.

It is vital to consider that only a couple of decades ago Yugoslavia was very much like Australia seems now; an intellectual and cultural epicentre. Its citizens well-educated, it was a final destination for all Europeans looking for freedom, opportunities, intellectual and artistic expression, and an exciting night-life. In a country that still has this potential, the impact of a work like Family Stories: Belgrade cannot be underestimated.

This play is, at heart, an allegory of Yugoslavia under Milosevic, and one of the most original, contemporary and honest theatrical dramatizations of the unrest that came under his regime. More than that however, it is a depiction of the dehumanization of a society - any society - under the boots of repression, nationalism, corruption, and war.

Ride On Theatre

Fringe theatre doesn’t get much more exciting and disturbing than this.
Cameron Woodhead, The AGE

Ride On is a collective of young professional theatre makers, performers, designers, technicians and musicians who share a passion for theatre as a vital source of our collective cultural conscience, our identity as individuals and as a community. Steered by the artistic vision of Tanya Goldberg and Bojana Novakovic, Ride On’s vision is the creation of challenging, innovative theatre works, which always draw upon the vitality of the medium and resonate and expand the boundaries in our distinctive culture.

"Compelling… refreshingly accessible … inventive… such theatrical conceit seems perfectly matched to the politics of today"
Mark Hopkins, Sydney Morning Herald

Ride On’s 2004 production of LOVEPLAY was a B Sharp sell-out and set an unprecedented box office record for the Downstairs Belvoir Street Theatre, only superceded in 2007 by Ride On’s The Merchant of Venice. After shaking up Sydney audiences during its April 2006 season, Debris had a sell-out second season at the Melbourne Fringe Festival in October, hosted by our friends The Black Lung Theatre. Debris received Green Room Award nominations for Best Independent Production and Best Actress (Bojana Novakovic) With our acclaimed 2006 production of Bone, the production was invited for a return season at the Seymour Centre as part of the Best of Independent Theatre BITE season. Bone received a Sydney Theatre Award nomination for Best Actress (Vanessa Downing) 2006. With The Merchant of Venice, Ride On returned to B Sharp, at Downstairs Belvoir, once again welcoming new members into the company for a fresh, invigorating and highly acclaimed theatrical experience. Thematically and artistically, The Merchant of Venice continued the Ride On tradition of pushing creative boundaries for our team as well as personal ones for our audience. Our 2008 plans continue in the same direction, with ideas for original work and rare contemporary adaptations. We hope you are enjoying the ride!

… Ride On Theatre have certainly ticked the biggest box on their mission statement – providing “a community of artists who believe in theatre’s enlightening and transforming power” Debris indeed enlightens and transforms, and gives hope where you least expect it.
SydneyStage.com


Bojana Novakovic : translator and director.

Bojana graduated from NIDA in 2002. In 2004 she won the AFI award for Best Leading Actress on Television for the ABC mini series Marking Time. This year she is about to star along side Will Smith in the film 7 POUNDS. Other film Credits include Optimisti, Solo, Thunderstruck, The Monkey’s Mask, Strange Fits of Passion, Blackrock and The Eye Inside. Theatre credits include These People, Away and Strange Fruit at the Sydney Theatre Company; The Female of the Species at the Melbourne Theatre Company; Criminology (Greenroom nomination for best actress 2007), Eldorado (Helpman nomination for best supporting actress, 2006) and Necessary Targets at the Malthouse, Death Variations and Loveplay (Ride On) for B Sharp, Romeo And Juliet with Bell Shakespeare and Debris for Ride On Theatre which received a Greenroom Award nomination for best Independent production and best actress in 2006. TV includes the Showtime series Satisfaction and The Cooks, Wildside, Water Rats, Big Sky, Heartbreak High and Murder Call.

Bojana was a producer for the 2004 Ride On sellout season of LOVEPLAY at the Downstairs Belvoir Street Theatre and the 2006 award nominated production of Debris. She was director and writer with Melbourne’s Black Lung Theatre for the critically acclaimed production of Sugar at the 2007 Adelaide Fringe Festival. She was an anti-nuclear testing protest organiser all throughout high school and appeared on the news! As well as fundraising for anti communist protests in Belgrade from 1997-2001. She has worked extensively with refugees in Australia. She is a professional translator for theatre and film (Serbian/ Croatian).