Dundo Maroje

Dundo Maroje is definitely the finest and the most famous of all Držić's comedies. It belongs to the very top of dramatic literature ever written in the Croatian language and it is no overstatement to say that it has a place in the pantheon of European renaissance literature in general. Extraordinarily precise, yet infinitely playful and ''unbridled'', this play is so powerful primarily because of the gallery of picturesque characters, who are guided by the author, who knows exactly what he needs each character for and what message each of them carries. Over 20 'personae', mostly from Dubrovnik, seek in renaissance Rome the satisfying of lust, money paid back or the defense of honour, fighting for what they hold dear by all means necessary and led by the Machiavellian doctrine in which ''the cause justifies the means''. Liberated from the bondages of the medieval spiritual vertical, Držić's man is completely secular and inconspicuously ''small'' in his newly acquired secularity, determined to fight for what, he believes, rightfully belongs to him. Sex, food, drinks and gold pieces are the desired goods, whereas love, either that of the parents or the spouses, loyalty and generostiy are incomparably less talked about. The important thing is to appease one's hunger, settle one's accounts - the rest will somehow work itself out. Riding that wave, Dundo Maroje, his son Maro, the courtesan Laura, her maid Petrunjela and the servants Popiva and Pomet, find themselves in situations where fighting is the only way to survive and the conflict is ruthless. The dialogue the characters are fencing with is natural, fluent, rich and scenic, and also presents one of the reasons why Dundo Maroje is so often revisited and why it adresses the stage with such irresistable charm.

''Instead of the radical and often pseudo-radical authorial readings, instead of the piling up of signs for those more or less in the know, such a ''Dundo'' is precisely what Držić had written and fulfills its role as a high-school book report and a play of general imporantce. Besides, even in a production like this there is more than enough of motifs which make comedy, as well as renaissance, such an entertaining genre: from primal urges and different ways to fullfil them, through intrigues, flattery and lies to the desire to rule the world or at least to have such a self-image that supports the feeling.'' (Igor Ružić, T-Portal)

''The star actors of the night were, in the excellent role of the Jew Sadi, Enes Vejzović, who used an attractive comical range, not always at first and particularly Siniša Ružić as the impeccable, warm, kind, confused, clumsy Dživulin from Lopud.'' (Helena Braut, ''Vjesnik'')

''It took 73 years of the newer representations of Držić to find a director who will comprehend and emphasize precisely this folksy characteristic of the famous play. To present this work as it is, with all the characteristics of classical renaissance comedy and the charcaters that Držić brings. Everything is told fluently and, even though it goes on for three hours, with a pause, we don't feel it, becuse everything is masterfully said on the stage.'' (Stijepo Mijović Kočan, Školske novine)