The Valley of Roses

The Valley of Roses, a new text by one of the most performed and ''the most impertinent'' Croatian playwrights, Ivan Vidić, seriously and humorously talks about the tycoon-parvenu Croatia and its obscure characters, who arogantly believe that they have it all, only to wake up one day and realize that what they have in fact is - nothing. Directed by Krešimir Dolenčić The Valley of Roses meanders through the chaos of every person's everyday life, allowing itself to be at the same time socially critical and poetical, realistic and absurd, pensive and mocking. This is a family drama, but also a satire, a ludistic dramatical diagnosis, a theatrical quest for meaning, passionate and cheeky, as a quest should be. We are tangled up in a web that we have woven ourselves, Vidić tells us, and we are to choose among two verbs, two questions: to escape or to fight?

''It is a rare treat in our theatrical conditions to see a fresh and new, ambitiously written and wittily staged domestic play. (...) The Valley of Roses in Gavella Theatre is a production that loudly calls out the present, asking, as we usually say, difficult questions and offering not a single easy answer. On top of that, it is humorous and fun, rich in lyrical moments and only occasionally confusedly puzzling.'' (Iva Gruić, Jutarnji list)

''Ivan Vidić has once again reaffirmed himself as the most intriguing playwright of his generation. (...) Dolenčić got the right proportion of the real and the irreal for the story of Croatian reality.'' (Bojana Radović, Večernji list)

''The authenticity of the scenes, exquisitely written dialogues that concisely conjure us up here and now, the colourful and multi-layered characters have greatly helped the director to impressively illustrate a kind of a post-apocalyptic society where nothing matters anymore because nothing makes any difference and the only thing certain is that which you have within yourself.'' (Zrinka Zorčec, Vjesnik)

''Somwhere towards the end of plowing through the night, a bitter scene is blossoming in Vidić's and Dolenčić's The Valley of Roses. Father and son (Sven Medvešek and Filip Križan are very moving in their pieta-embrace) cannot recognize each other. And when parents and their children don't know about each other anymore, even if they bump into each other outside the bathroom door, means that such a society has not only become seedy, it reaks.'' (Davor Špišić, Globus)

''With its last couple of premi?res Gavella Theatre has been showing a systematical strengthening of its acting ensemble, as well as their critical interest in the world outside the theatre box. The staging of domestic writers, I'm sure, plays a significant part in all of that.'' (Nataša Govedić, Novi list)