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Drama script Disappearance written by Tomislav Zajec, one of the leading Croatian dramatists will have its world opening night on January 19, 2024, at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb. It will be directed by Dora Ruždjak Podolski and the script won the second prize Marin Držić for the best drama piece in 2021.  In this brilliant drama, as was mentioned by the jury members of the award „Tomislav Zajec does not console us and seduce us with sentiment, he does not moralise, but with his drama score invites both individuals and the wider community to break the wall of silence with their voice and to denounce and punish the offenders“.

The new text by Tomislav Zajec Disappearance talks about a contemporary family that appears to be harmonious, yet under the surface there are gaps through which we gradually discover what has happened in the past. Karlo (Krešimir Mikić) is a renowned scientist, model husband and father, but he is more than just that. We discover his true predatory nature through Marko (Marin Klišmanić), a young boy with hearing impairment whose inner hell is covered with silence, slowly turning him into a disappearing person.

Disappearance is the most complete script written by Tomislav Zajec and when I read it, I was thrilled instantaneously. His dramaturgy interweaves scenes, emotions and states that embed into the characters. There are many characters present at the same time on the stage, but they are not necessarily in the same space, let alone, in time and this is always a great challenge for the stage director said Dora Ruždjak Podolski adding how the text, along the first and foremost layer that deals with a personality disorder and its repercussions on the daily life of a community, deals with secrets we carry in ourselves, human and social masks, how much they mean to us and what happens when the masks fall off. In order for the actors and the entire artistic team to comprehend the world of therapy, assistance was provided by the clinical psychologist Iva Žegura.

In this work women are given the option to be the creators of their own paths or to be victims of circumstances, and Tomislav gives them exactly the position they have today in the society, without any exaggeration. I must also emphasise that the conflict at the end, between the two male characters Karlo and Marko, is presented so powerfully that I believe we have not had such a male duel in Croatian drama literature since The Glembays, said Dora Ruždjak Podolski.

The cast is:  Krešimir Mikić, Nina Violić, Iva Mihalić, Marin Klišmanić, Iva Jerković Oreški, Lana Barić, Ksenija Marinković, Ivan Jončić, Marin Stević, Alen Šalinović, Ruben Carović.

With the world opening night of this awarded text written by one of our best contemporary writers, the Drama of the CNT in Zagreb continues to present authors who systematically and without embellishment deal with our everyday life and open important issues on human disorders and traumas for which we, as a society, often lack understanding.