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The opening night of The Welking written by the awarded British dramatist Lucy Kirkwood will take place on April 12, 2024 at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb. The stage director is Marina Pejnović and along Lana Meniga, there are 13 actresses from the CNT Drama ensemble who are a part of this production: Jadranka Đokić, Alma Prica, Ksenija Marinković, Iva Jerković Oreški, Mirta Zečević, Olga Pakalović, Dora Lipovčan, Lana Barić, Iva Mihalić, Ana Begić Tahiri, Jelena Otašević Babić, Ivana Boban and Barbara Vicković.

The performance is a paraphrase of the movie 12 Angry Men in a female version of exercising democracy.

It is not enough to give someone power, but that someone must be willing to receive it, to raise awareness of the possibility of change which that power offers. The question why the women themselves were oppressive over other women and for centuries have been the cause of the problem and supported and exercised patriarchy, has also been raised. Women taught young girls about patriarchy and implemented its oppression, said the stage director Marina Pejnović, adding how hypertextuality and distinctiveness of the drama demonstrate the insignificance of the context that led to the death penalty.

It is 1759 and the world is awaiting Halley's Comet. The daughter of Lady Wax is murdered (Barbara Vicković) and the inhabitants of this small rural city are bloodthirsty. Sally Poppy (Lana Meniga) is accused of the crime, together with her lover who had already been hanged. Sally's way to the noose depends on the fact whether she is pregnant as she claims. If she is pregnant, her life will be spared. Sally's destiny lies in the hands of 12 women gathered together to make a unanimous decision this way or another.

In this drama women must fight their consciousness in order to make the decision. A radical presentation of views begins, that we, in our daily life, experience as disguised dynamics of interfemale relations. But the author, by placing the story in the 18th century, enabled a display and visibility of these standpoints. By this, she did not describe the past but unravelled the present.

The dramaturge of the production is Mirna Rustemović, the composer is Ivan Josip Skender, set designer is Liberta Mišan, costume designer is Zdravka Ivandija Kirigin, lighting designer is Anton Modrušan, stage movement is created by Pravdan Devlahović and the author of the video is Sara Salamon.

What happens when twelve women are enclosed in one claustrophobic space without food, water, heating and light in order to make a decision on the death penalty of another woman, the audience will find out in The Welkin that is scheduled for April 12, 13, 15, 18 and 22, and May 8, 11 and 28, 2024.

Tickets can be purchased HERE