Hidden Fees

''Money is power'', ''Time is money'', ''Money is the root of all evil'' are just some of the phrases concerning money which could all be applied to what Viktoria Nikiforova deals with. The contemporary Russian playwright and journalist has so far been unperformed here, but she is a regular on stages in and out of her own country. By writing an almost programmatical text where everything, literally everything, revolves around money and where without carefully planned profit considerations one can't get pregnant, have a baby, die, get a job, quit work, buy an apartment or be in an intimate relationship, Nikiforova shows us what we have become and where faith - even if we didn't have any, because there was no choice in the first place - in what we tend to call ''liberal capitalism'' has gotten us. Her play, however, is not a lecture on morality but a comedy, a socially engaged one, caught in the web of our everyday sorrows, yet immensly trenchant in its attention to detail and satyrical in the process. The characters it deals with are people like us, people who got ''a bit carried away'' in the supermarket or misjudged the amount of credit they can pay off and all of a sudden found themselves in a situation that was bigger than them, a situation they now need to get out of quickly, in any way they can. Translated by Irena Lukšić and directed by Dražen Ferenčina, who has staged Elton's ''Popcorn'', Berkoff's ''Kvetch'' and Špišić's ''Dark Eyes'' of whom the latter two are still on our theatre's repertoire, ''Hidden Fees'' is going to be staged in our theatre in a somewhat altered version, because the play has been adapted, that is literally transferred in the context of contemporary Croatia, by Dubravko Mihanović, a playwright and the dramaturge of ''Gavella'' Theatre. The world of 2006 Moscow has thus become the world of Zagreb today, a city where citizens are actually drowning in credit, where they are not allowed to move into apartments they have paid for fair and square and where someone else, mostly linked to politics, is getting rich at their expense.

''Hrvoje Klobučar carries the heaviest load of the play. Naturally and persuasively he portrays the nuances in the mood swings (...) without exaggeration while keeping the emotional intensity at a precise and suitable level all the way to the play's end. Equally so Dijana Vidušin finds her way around her character Lee, surprising the audience with an energetic monologue uttered into the phone that was switched off long ago.'' (Lidija Zozoli, Vijenac)

''A play directed by Dražen Ferenčina in the spirit of a black comedy has its amusing and shocking moments. The credit for the amusing moments goes to Ivana Roščić for her brilliant and caricatural interpretation of the figurative Amanda. As for the shocking moments, the ones that give artistic integrity to the performance, credit must go to the indestructible Pero Kvrgić for his commentator's role of Jesus Christ. (...) Dražen Kühn superbly embodies the epicentre of political corruption.'' (Denis Derk, Večernji list)

''Kuhn's character is the pillar of political corruption, as well as the model in which we easily recognize our domestic politicians; (...) Kvrgić is an acting master because he never allows his characters to be single-layered. That way, in the role of ''the saviour'' he attracts by calling to the secular, Sartre-esque conscience of the audience: ''You're not stupid! You're going to the theatre, aren't you!'' (...) Ana Kvrgić (Ksenija) and Ivana Roščić (Amanda) are very successful in their humorous miniatures of prostitutes who work together on their tricks' sexual demands and during the process laconically chat only about financial transactions. Ivana Roščić also brilliantly portrays her character's lack of scruples.'' (Nataša Govedić, Novi list)

''Underlining the dramatic structure of the text and the adaptation, the director Dražen Ferenčina has clearly and literally read out the text, set up the characters and let the actors create their roles.'' (Petra Jelača, Lider)

''Gavella's cast is yet again very good and harmonious. Hrvoje Klobučar has a somewhat non-typical role, but again finds his way around it like a fish in the sea. (...) The play becomes more impressive towards the end...'' (Elizabeta Hrstić. Politika plus)