Mara and Kata

inspired by Petar Kušelj’s radio show At Home With the Gossipmongers and Desa Begović Mrkušić’s book The Gossipmongers of Dubrovnik

not subtitled in English

Author: Saša Božić

in collaboration with:

MARA: Nataša Dangubić

KATA: Doris Šarić-Kukuljica

Author of the text of the booklet: Antonela Tošić 

Parts of the following songs are used in the play Mara & Kata: Tiho je negdje svirala mandolina, Adio Mare, Stare ljubavi, Izašla je zelena naranča, Zbogom ostaj moj cvijete ljubljeni, Kad pjesma zrikavaca zamre and Dubrovačka jesen. We would like to extend our gratitude to their authors for granting us permission to use them.

We would like to thank: Ivana Selmani

Premiere held on July 20 2020 at the 71st Dubrovnik Summer Festival. 

In the sea of stock characters in Dubrovnik’s literature, the most popular ones have always been parodic counterparts, regardless of whether their relationship was antonymous, like, for example, that of master and servant, cunning man and naïve man, or synonymous like our gossipmongers.

As they thoroughly address each city topic, Mara and Kata sharply and expressively comment on everything: from current political affairs in Croatia, tourist apartment rentals, to their preferred kind of tourists. With their extraordinary skill of jumping from one subject to the next, this Dubrovnik tandem relentlessly criticises everything and everybody with their specific humour, well-timed comic reversals, original language and absurd redefining of the term ‘common everyday wisdom’. As we listen to their dialogue, we witness the creation of a new discourse of gossip which, as it develops, slowly takes on a form of pop-cultural philosophy, available to everyone and easily understandable. Classic, stereotypical gossiping undergoes a sort of metamorphosis into cultural-sociological speculation – of course, at all times keeping its enticing, perky and playful expression. Mara & Kata is also a story about Dubrovnik’s recent history and all its citizens – from politicians who run it to the so-called oriđinali, unique individuals who make it what it is. Omnipresent in all periods, we can learn about their existence both from historical sources and present-day social networks. Or you can simply hear what Mara and Kata have to tell you about them. To illustrate the uniqueness of their conversations, it suffices to say that even the history of the Republic of Dubrovnik, when humorously approached by the gossipmongers, can be perceived from a gossiping point of view. In their discussions about a variety of topics, not even the subject of political correctness is spared, with each of them analysing it in a new, authentic way. By reconsidering Dubrovnik’s way of living in the period from the 1990s onward and all the way into the future, our courtyard analysts continuously open new perspectives as they create the art of endless wasting of time.

Antonela Tošić

Photo (c) Marko Ercegović