The 40th anniversary of the Festival of Monodrama and Mime officially ended yesterday! Branka Pujić greeted the audience on the fourth day of competition and announced the program and upcoming shows. The first play of the day was ‘Milunka’ by Vesna Stanković, a moving and emotional story about the life of a brave and proud woman who marked Serbian history. ‘Milunka’, written and performed by Mrs Stanković was clear, energetic, and so emotionally charged that the actress was interrupted by applause several times. The audience was in tears by the end of the show and the actress received standing ovations. The monodrama ‘Milunka’ is a sad and true account of Serbian history. The second play was ‘Nadežda Petrović’, performed by Biljana Đurović. It is a story about pain, quintessential emotion, hopelessness, art, fighting inner demons and the limitations of the human body. Mrs Đurović, burning with the intensity of her emotion, brought to life the harrowing narrative of the life of Serbian heroine, Nadežda Petrović. The third play was ‘Čučuk Stana’ by Mirjana Đurđević, with a likeable and folksy approach to the turbulent history of the brave Čučuk Stana, a great freedom fighter, who was always guided by love, love for the men in her life, and, above all, love for her country. The honorary awards of the festival were given to the contestants by the president of the festival council, Predrag Miletić.

On the third day of the festival, at the foyer of Pinocchio Puppet Theatre, Anđela Jovanović addressed the audience summarizing the program so far and announcing the upcoming shows. The first show of the third day was ‘The Village’, by Tina Milivojević, an intimate confession and deeply emotional journey. Afterwards, Predrag Radovančević introduced himself to the audience with the play ‘Transperson’. It leads us down the path of various psychological states of mind, the chaos of today’s modern world, all along posing questions about self-liberation. The third show was ‘My Life’ by Anka Gaćeša, an adaptation of Isadora Duncan’s biography. Coupled with dazzling and complex choreographies, as well as sincere acting, this play sends a clear message about the true values of life – though the path is long and arduous, we must always fight for what we believe in. Anka Gaćeša and the rest of the cast were greeted with standing ovations from the audience. The last show of the day was ‘Watching’ by Vanja Milačić. This great life story about one woman’s lifelong struggle made the audience cry. Sincere and poignant, the play leaves us with a sense of pure, untainted love. The honorary awards of the festival were given to the contestants by Igor Bojović, the director of Pinocchio Puppet Theatre.

Today, at noon in the "Stara carinarnica" restaurant in Zemun, promotion of the book "Actor... is actor... is actor" by Zijah Sokolović was held. Borislav Balać, Radomir Putnik and author participated in the promotion, while Zijah Sokolović was talking about his own view on the theatrical practice and about history of the play "Actor is actor is actor" which was played more then 1800 times.

On the second day of the festival the audience was addressed by Anđela Jovanović who announced the program and the contestants. The first show of the second day was ‘Homebody/Kabul’ starring Dušanka Stojanović Glid. It is a type of monologue, stripped of unnecessary movement or dramatic changes. The next performer was Gera Sandler from Israel in the play ‘Finally, the end! the audience counted down the moments till death with him. The third show was ‘Soul of a chair’ by artist Yuri Kostanyan from Armenia, a mime act about the struggle and symbiosis of man and chair, that is, the correlation of people and authorities personified as the throne. The last show that took place on the second festival day was ‘My Prizes’ by Slobodan Beštić, which began half an hour before midnight. It is a story about the turbulent road ahead of us, the no-alternative road called the European Union. It speaks of seeing things as they really are, not how we want them to be. The EU anthem is played at the end, the volume gradually increasing, until it drowns out even the loudest protests. The audience shouted ‘bravo’ at Slobodan Beštić. Honorary awards were handed out by the President of the festival Council, Predrag Miletić.