The Sons Die First

The harsh climate of the mountain Dinara, serving as the most frequent topography of the author’s plays, tormented here not only by the war, but by the events that followed as its consequence, is brought to the stage of the Gavella Theatre by the bard of our theatre, Božidar Violić, who is thoroughly familiar with the work of Mate Matišić. Violić recognized in ‘’The Sons’’ a play ‘’written concisely, dramaturgically set, clearly structured, well thought-out, with an evenly spread subject-matter and the dialogue in a rich, colourful dialect pervaded by harsh dark humour’’, discovering in it outlines of antic tragedy and creating a performance whose spirituality peers through the layers of complex topics only to help the audience accept what Matišić uninhibitedly offers.

AWARDS:
2006, 16th Marulić Days
- the ''Marul'' award for best actor performance
2006, 30th Days of Satire
- ''The Golden Laugh'' – best actor

''Matišić has written the Croatian version of ''Antigone''... (Nataša Govedić, ''Novi list'')

''The master of the black-humoured atmosphere, Mate Matišić, here too lived up to expectations, but these elements of the ''satyrical absurd'' are in a strong symbiotic relationship with the icy horror which pervades the beginning of the play.'' (Hrvoje Ivanković, ''Jutarnnji list'')

''Perhaps the most shocking finale of a performance where the father, sitting on his son's grave, holding a gun, regrets having had sons instead of daughters... Once again Violić confronted his environment by submitting the truth on the stage.'' (Želimir Ciglar, ''Večernji list'')

''A director's take such as this is based on the actors and they can very well handle their own tasks in Gavella. The excellent Ljubomir Kapor as the father who is searching for his dead son, the Oedipus hurtling towards another tragedy, is just the tip of the iceberg of Croatian pain that is wonderfully personified here by Biserka Ipša, as his wife, as well as the protagonist of the tragedy, their son, movingly played by Dražen Kühn. By creating a world of marginalized characters well hidden from the public eye the entire cast – Pero Kvrgić, Sreten Mokrović, Ivana Bolanča, Darko Milas, Enes Vejzović, Janko Rakoš, Sven Šestak, Vlasta Knezović, Zoran Gogić i Siniša Ružić – have created a number of individualized, tragic personalities... This production has finally given the domestic theatre a painful story of a Croatia that exists in silence...'' (Jasen Boko, ''Slobodna Dalmacija'')

''By choosing Matišić's text Gavella made a direct hit.'' (Gordana Ostović, Hrvatski radio)