The Eighth Commissioner

''Siniša Mesnjak is sent by the government, as a punishment, to Trečić, the furthest inhabited Croatian island, where he will serve as the eighth government commissioner. His task is to hold an election and organize a legal local authority. The task seems fairly simple to the young politician except for the fact that Trečić is anything but an ordinary island in the Adriatic sea...'' This is the plot of one of the most award-winning novels in contemporary Croatian literature, ''The Eighth Commissioner'', written by Renato Baretić. ''Vladimir Nazor'', ''Ivan Goran Kovačić'', ''August Šenoa'' and ''Ksaver Šandor Gjalski'' are the names of the awards won by the novel described as a ''northern-like, hillariously sad and southern-like, hopelessly funny autobiographical prose''. Baretić's colourful world, utopian and disobedient, a world which refuses to be governed is created on the stage by Saša Anočić, the director of hit productions such as ''Cowboys'', ''Mr. Lojtrica's Meaning of Life'', ''Of Bears and Men''... This project is somewhat more ''classical'' than the previous ones in the fact that it is based on an already written text, dramatized by Dora Delbianco and the director himself. However, at the same time this text offers enough artistic freedom for the author and the possibility to experiment - and Baretić's model is an immensely playful and unrestrained one - as well as to ''create something from scratch'', which would be wrong to deprive Anočić off. This is a story ''of the world around us, of what happens when the Prime Minister doesn't answer his selj?l?f??n (mobile phone), of what are laws in this country for, of what the intelligence underground is doing...''

''A terrific novel about a young politician on the rise who arrives, as a punishment, to a remote island, inhabited by unusual people for whom time stands still, has proved as a good choice for the director Saša Anočić, who likes idiosyncratic stories and fates. The characteristics of Anočić's plays: the poetics of cartoons and mild surrealism, as well as a knack for creating warm human relationships, work here as well, especially in group scenes showing the islanders resisting the rational order of civilization. (...) Janko Rakoš in the role of a young careerist is peeling the initial outer world hysteria off himself well and yields to the warm and unusual people like Tonino, we would say a man of God, who is brilliantly portrayed by Enes Vejzović.'' (Gordana Ostović, Jutarnja kronika Hrvatskog radija)

''Enes Vejzović is brilliant as the honest and pure Tonino...'' (Bojana Radović, Večernji list)

''Rakoš had the task of creating a contemporary, cynical Peer Gynt, which he suceeded in as long as he was not prevented by old women Ivana Roščić, Slavica Knežević and Sven Šestak or, first and foremost, the legendary Tonino, one of the finest and best-suited roles of the distinctive Enes Vejzović in his career so far. Ranko Zidarić as the merry Bosnian Selim and Barbara Nola in the role of the even merrier Zehra are the minutely crafted accessories to the basic Trečić postulate - all that is impossible is possible, because it is the only thing real.'' (Igor Ružić, T-portal)

''The entire Gavella cast, led by the excellent Janko Rakoš in the role of the commissioner Siniša and the equally impressive Enes Vejzović as some sort of overly polite Mediterranean zen-teacher Tonino, is genuinely enjoying the staging of Baretić's text. The precious principle of actors' play is represented in all aspects - when we witness fierce outbursts of anger, as in the case of Hrvoje Klobučar (a ferocious, primitive example) or Filip Šovagović (Tonino's painfully autocratic, violent father). It is also present in the portrayal of a sort of wizard who is played by the impressive and dignified Sven Medvešek (the lighthouse keeper) or in the portrayal of the local ruler in the shadows, Selim Ferhatović, played by the imaginative and funny Ranko Zidarić.'' (Nataša Govedić, Novi list)