Žrtva ljubavi
The play Žrtva Ljubavi is based on a real event that took place on the island of Hvar in 1932.
The femicide on the island provoked outrage among the locals, disrupted the steady rhythm of life in a small fishing village, and attracted significant public attention. The crime was extensively reported in the press of the time. The main source of inspiration for the performance is drawn from authentic court records, transcripts, and the course of the judicial process that led to the discovery and conviction of the perpetrator. The play uses quotations from court documents and excerpts from the city chronicle published in the newspaper Novo doba.
In Kuntrata’s production, the act of femicide serves as a starting point for a poetic theatrical story about the fate of women, their island silences, tragic and unrequited loves, their connection to the sea, the tides within their souls, their longing and prayers. As the poet Jakša Fiamengo suggests in the poem Journey into the Labyrinth – itself a poetic sigh and lyrical commentary on Kuntrata’s performance:
“Here we are of the same hope, of the same bones
drained, collapsed into ourselves, alone
before the onrush of death we would like
to understand only through the land that is a book
closed, a glass poured out from fate.”
A poetic preparation for a sleep that must be prayed for. For the victim, for sorrow, pain, and destiny. For love and suffering nonetheless. This is a darkly toned island chronicle, a labyrinth of fate, a kaleidoscope of alibis, life force, perseverance, and the destiny of real protagonists whose many motives, elements, and layers remain relevant and cautionary even today.
“The grief in the village is immense. Everyone is under the heavy impression of this brutal crime committed against a young woman who ended her young life in such a miserable way, together with the child she carried under her heart. The investigation, conducted after the autopsy, established that the late Marge, after being suffocated, was tied with wire and rope and dragged by boat to the place where she was thrown into the sea, which after ten days returned the unfortunate victim of love.”
(Novo doba, 10 October 1932)
“The small and quiet Vrbovska is shaken by this tragedy. Older people, raised in strict morality, emphasize that this bloody crime is also largely the result of the younger generation turning away from patriarchal belief and upbringing… While some remained faithful to the faith of their fathers, others tore the old faith from their hearts. In such a soul, the elders point out, the decision for such a terrible and brutal crime could have been born.”
(Novo doba, 21 October 1932)
Director: Mirko Đinđić
Costume Design: Marija Šarić Ban
Set Design: Željko Baričić
Props: Robert Košta
Lighting and Sound Design: Mirko Đinđić
Poster Design: Nora Mojaš
Cast: Darija Juričić, Paula Đinđić, Iva Prtenjača, Nevija Kožul Peričić, Danijela Skoblar, Jelena Rušev Mogilevskiy, Andreja Antonina, Lucijana Rončević, Marija Pijaca, Zvonimir Sutlović, and Ante Mihić
Admission: Free
When?
Saturday, February 7 at 8:00 PM
Where?
Hvar Theatre
