Two women, a journey from Zagreb to Babin Kuk near Dubrovnik, music at its peak and situations that get out of control. The play Babin Kuk Gori , a hit play by the KNAP Theatre and the Domino Association, is going on a road trip to Bratislava this October where it will be a guest at the Drama Queer festival. The performance is scheduled for Monday, October 19th at 8pm , in the A4 – Space For Contemporary Culture space.
Drama Queer is the only Slovak theatre festival systematically dedicated to queer themes. Since 2013, it has been gathering Slovak and international performances in Bratislava, opening up space for stories and experiences often overlooked in mainstream culture. The fourteenth edition of the festival, entitled Architecture of Empathy, addresses the question of how art can foster understanding and solidarity in a world marked by climate, geopolitical and identity crises. The program focuses on memory, the future and the body as a space of freedom and struggle.
This year’s international program brings together productions from the Czech Republic, Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovakia, and among the selected titles is the Croatian play Babin Kuk gori – a lesbian roadtrip comedy that transforms the queer experience into an unpredictable, energetic and genre-bending theatrical ride. What begins as a journey of two women from Zagreb to Dubrovnik gradually turns into a series of absurd situations, dramatic twists and decisions that spiral out of control. In terms of its energy and the dynamics of the relationship between the two protagonists, the play is reminiscent of the cult film Thelma and Louise, but this ride is marked by dark humor, unexpected twists and emotions that can easily explode.
The play was based on a text by Argentine authors Gonzalo Quintana , Belén Amado and Micaela Fariña , and was successfully performed in Buenos Aires and included in the catalog of plays of the Argentine National Theater Institute (Instituto Nacional del Teatro). The Croatian version was translated and adapted by Zvonimir Dobrović , and the play stars Lea Jevtić and Ivana Sinovčić .
Being a guest at the festival is an opportunity to present a play that has already attracted the attention of domestic critics to an international audience. Critics point out exactly what makes Babin Kuk gori special: a combination of unbridled humor, cinematically dynamic twists and an emotional story about love, friendship and freedom of choice.
” Last night I watched the play “Babin Kuk gori” at KNAP and left the theater with the feeling that I had witnessed a real stage fireworks display. Gonzalo Quintana brings extraordinary stage energy with his direction: humor comes from the body, from the rhythm and from the precise choreography of situations that drive the play forward at an unstoppable pace. (…) I left the theater with the thought that this is a clear example of how the new generation of theater can be dynamic, courageous and irresistibly entertaining .” – Ivica Buljan , theater director
” At one point, everything reminded me of Almodovar’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, at another we watched a bloody showdown like in Tarantino’s films, especially from the Kill Bill series. (…) The dialogues are fast, absurd and surreal situations alternate with melodramatic moments, and everything happens on an almost empty stage from which bursts a fast, dynamic and passionate acting without a moment’s respite, in which the director’s Argentine temperament is also felt .” – Katarina Kolega , Kazalište.hr
” Baba’s Kuk Gori is a comedy about friendship, loyalty and the limits we cross when we think we are saving someone. Fast, witty and emotional, the play reminds us that love is perhaps the noblest, but also the most dangerous motive for action .” – Nikolina Kranjec , Gloria.hr
After a guest appearance in Bratislava, Babin Kuk Gori returns to the KNAP Theater stage on Wednesday, October 21st , at 8 p.m. Zagreb audiences will once again have the opportunity to see a play that entertains, surprises, and puts queer experiences at the center of the stage.
