Leda

''A good play is not possible without the internal psychological volume, serving as an instrument, and the actor, as the player of that instrument... I decided to write dialogues... with the intention to stretch the internal charge of the psychological tension to the biggest possible impact, and then to move these impacts as close to the reflection of our reality as possible.'', wrote Krleža in his book "Moj obračun s njima", using these foundations to form one of the three plays of the "Glembay cycle" - Leda. Subtitled as a ''comedy of a carnival night'', Leda seems to elude those who wish to determine its genre, turning from a drawing room play into a ''romantic play'' and from there into an ironic melodrama. All of these attributes can seem related, but the fact remains that it is a text which was, more than once, left not read through sufficiently, depriving us on the stage of that which it so playfully and wisely speaks of on paper. The reason for it might lay in the fact that the disecting and disassembling of the mechanisms of human relationships in Leda was carried out in a ''conversationally informal'' manner, which is but a form. For the truth is, that the existential anxiety of the characters of this play is frighteningly deep, whereas their ''unbearable lightness of being'' is so contemporary that we have the impression like we've stepped into a text that has been written now, in the vacuum of the beginning of the 21st century.
Not long ago Boris Svrtan was one of the most prominent members of our theatre's ensemble from where he left to the Academy of Dramatic Arts, where he works today as a professor, simultaneously flowing into directorial waters. The production Metastases, by the Kerempuh Theatre, which he directed and dramatized, won several awards, presenting him as an author mostly interested in - as it could be expected - the actor. Once it is stripped of the layers which occured due to the aforementioned ''generic doubts'' and questions how to approach it, Leda is undoubtedly an actor's play, with brilliantly written dialogues, intriguing scenes, ambiguous relationships... ''...nothing that can happen between a man and a woman is so important and one should especially lose sleep over it.'' says Krleža through one of his characters, sending us a completely opposite message with the entirety of his play and inviting the performers and the audience to find themselves in the thick fabric which he has, intelligently and imaginatively, woven for them.

''Krleža himself would love Svrtan's Leda! Excellent casting and the direction which emphasizes just how contemporary Krleža still is are the basic qualities of this Leda (...) After this play, Gavella Theatre can rightfully say that it has drama champions whose future roles will be eagerly anticipated.'' (Bojana Radović, ''Večerenji list'')

''It has been a while since so many distinguished guests have appeared at the opening night in Gavella Theatre. Ranging from interpreters of the theatre art and literary connoisseurs of Krleža's oeuvre, through numerous actors and directors to representatives of political institutions both of the city and the state as well. It was as if the entire community had eagerly been awaiting its own Krleža, as if everything was still about the author whose words might hit and shake things up, as if Leda might contain essential answers which might solve whatever it was that ''froze'' on our public scene when Krleža left. (...) Jelena Miholjević is an actress who can instantly transform from a lazy, groomed and tamed cat to a fury, from a gloomy diva to a wife that is hurt and childish, from an angry avenger to a tender conciliator. This range is self-sufficient enough to ''establish'' the play.'' (Nataša Govedić, ''Novi list'')

''Krleža is definitely the leading expert on the woman's psyche in our literature and he had successfully studied the man-woman relationship through all
phases of his dramatic creation. Svrtan therefore has affirmed Krleža as a great author. (...) Ozren Grabarić gives a very impressive performance as the nobleman Urban, whereas Bojana Gregorić Vejzović, after the initial insecurity, plays a tenacious Melita.'' (Tomislav Čadež, ''Jutarnji list'')