First Drama Premiere at HNK2: An Innovative Staged Reading of Schiller’s ‘Mary Stuart’, Directed by Matija FerlinDrama — 23. April 2026.
On 8 May 2026, the HNK2 stage will host its first drama premiere: an innovative stage interpretation of Schiller’s renowned Mary Stuart, directed by Matija Ferlin.
As one of the key works of German literature, the play continues to resonate powerfully with its themes of power, identity and political conflict, and in this production it is given a new, contemporary performative framework.
With this production, Matija Ferlin continues his authorial exploration of theatre as a precisely composed “score” of relationships between body, space and voice, this time radicalised by way of a form that dissolves the boundaries between rehearsal and performance, text and body, intimacy and representation. At its core is the conflict between two queens, Elizabeth I (Nina Violić) and Mary Stuart (Jadranka Đokić), whose personal drama is continually refracted by the mechanisms of state power.
“In our work with this material, we follow a line of struggle for political power that unfolds through the relationship between the two cousins. Their intimacy constantly collides with the silent yet powerful structures of authority, while leaving the question of how power is produced at the centre, sustained and transmitted through institutions of control,” director Matija Ferlin emphasised.
The narrative follows the final days of Queen Mary Stuart, imprisoned and confronted with an inevitable sentence. Schiller places at its centre the imagined encounter between the two cousins - never realised in history, yet dramatically powerful.
It is precisely in this encounter, further stripped down in the performance concept and focused on the actors’ presence, that two visions of power collide: the rational and restrained Elizabeth’s, and the passionate and impulsive Mary’s.
Iva Hraste Sočo, General Manager and Artistic Director of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, emphasises on the occasion of the premiere: “Schiller’s Mary Stuart continues to speak very clearly to contemporary audiences, as it explores the relationships between power, responsibility and personal freedom. It is precisely such works that we consider essential to our repertoire: classics which, through contemporary interpretation, establish a dialogue with the time in which we live. I believe that Matija Ferlin’s authorial vision will offer audiences a new and compelling experience of this great text.”
The production brings together a distinguished ensemble of the CNT Drama in Zagreb, including: Nina Violić, Jadranka Đokić, Luka Dragić, Dušan Gojić, Silvio Vovk, Domagoj Ikić, Livio Badurina, Marin Stević, Ivan Jončić, Alen Šalinović, Iva Mihalić, Tesa Litvan and Fabijan Komljenović, and offers audiences a suggestive and concentrated theatrical experience which, through reduced means and a strong focus on performance, further intensifies questions such as what is the price of power, responsibility, and individual destiny.
