{"id":16531,"date":"2024-03-11T10:46:21","date_gmt":"2024-03-11T10:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heartefact.org\/predstave\/how-i-learned-to-drive\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T14:20:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T14:20:35","slug":"how-i-learned-to-drive","status":"publish","type":"predstave","link":"https:\/\/heartefact.org\/en\/plays\/how-i-learned-to-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"How I Learned to Drive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Text:<\/strong> Paula Vogel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director:<\/strong> Tara Mani\u0107<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translation: <\/strong>Ivana \u0110uri\u0107 Paunovi\u0107<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Text adaptation<\/strong>: Vuk Bo\u0161kovi\u0107<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starring<\/strong>: Svetozar Cvetkovi\u0107 and Marta Bogosavljevi\u0107<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scenography \/ Costume:<\/strong> Zorana Petrov<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music:<\/strong> Vladimir Pejkovi\u0107<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Light design:<\/strong> Nemanja Cali\u0107 and Zorana Petrov<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public Relations: <\/strong>Slavica Pe\u0161i\u0107<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo and video production:<\/strong> Marko Stojanovi\u0107<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poster design: <\/strong>Marko Stojanovi\u0107<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technical associates: <\/strong>Nemanja Cali\u0107, Bojan Durutovi\u0107<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Executive production: <\/strong>Selena Pleskonji\u0107 and Aleksandra Lozanovi\u0107<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heartefact Production:  <\/strong>March 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Premiere:<\/strong> 17th March 2024, Heartefact House, Bulevar Despota Stefana 7<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DIRECTOR’S NOTE<\/strong>
How I Learned to Drive <\/strong>by Paula Vogel is a text many describe as “Lolita” written from a female perspective. It follows the story of an adult Li\u2019l Bit as she reflects on her childhood. In working on this play within the intimate and chamber-like setting of Heartefact House, alongside actress Marta Bogosavljevi\u0107, actor Svetozar Cvetkovi\u0107, and the entire creative team, we sought to craft a tender theatrical language for this complex, profound, and delicate text. It makes no attempt to compete with the harsh realities of our everyday lives\u2014realities so much grimmer, omnipresent, and seemingly unstoppable. Through this play, we sought to take a step back, examining a problem most who encounter this text have faced in some form during their lives.<\/em> The relationship between the two characters, Li\u2019l Bit and her uncle, is fraught with ambivalence: love, tenderness, curiosity, teaching, trust, the formation of authority, mistakes, and, consequently, boundary violations, grooming, and harm leading to self-destruction. One of the text\u2019s greatest values is the author\u2019s empathy for both characters, which opens up a vital, provocative discussion about the causes\u2014not just the consequences\u2014of such a relationship. This is a play about forgiveness, even when forgiving seems impossible. I hope this performance will awaken audiences and make them at least a little braver. In a society where we often shame and silence people, that alone would be a significant achievement.<\/em>
Tara Mani\u0107, director<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A NOTE FROM THE DRAMATURG<\/strong>
Terrible things happen every day, and we are shocked when we hear or read about them. Then, we move on with our lives. That\u2019s normal and natural. But the horrors we read about and argue over in comment sections often go on for years\u2014sometimes decades. Someone lives through them, day by day. What makes us ask, \u201cHow is this possible?\u201d is clear to them from every angle. Because to them, it\u2019s not \u201chorror\u201d; it\u2019s their life.<\/em> This play is about that. Without sensationalism, without posing “big questions,” without offering simple solutions to enormous problems. It was written a quarter of a century ago. Some things have changed since then; some haven\u2019t. But the strength of this text isn\u2019t in its relevance to \u201chorrors\u201d but in something deeper, more complex, yet simpler. It\u2019s about a woman reflecting on her life\u2014a life scarred by trauma but also filled with love and lessons in driving. And therein lies the problem: nothing in this story is simple.<\/em> If \u201chorrors\u201d were problems with easy solutions, they\u2019d already be solved. \u201cDismantle the patriarchy\u201d sounds great but is only the first step. Support is crucial, but at the end of the day, we each fall asleep alone and wake up the same way.<\/em> “How I Learned to Drive” was brought to life through the extraordinary dedication of two incredibly brave actors and an exceptionally talented director. For two months, these three delved into the darkest corners of human interactions to create a work that offers audiences the very essence of theater for millennia\u2014catharsis. Catharsis about \u201chorrors.\u201d So we can move beyond asking, \u201cHow is this possible?\u201d<\/em>
Vuk Bo\u0161kovi\u0107, dramaturg<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“With excellent acting, Svetozar Cvetkovi\u0107 and Marta Bogosavljevi\u0107 embody, profoundly yet unobtrusively, the whole spectrum of questions from whether it is (im)possible to forgive, to whether behind everything a person hears or experiences – including the astonished question “how is that possible” – there is actually a more or less lengthy process of occurrence that led precisely to that, and how something that is “horrible” to someone is actually life to someone else, and so on…<\/em>”
Tanja Nje\u017ei\u0107, Blic<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The original fragmented progression of the events in the play \u201eHow I Learned to Drive\u201c by Paula Vogel is further emphasized in Vuk Bo\u0161kovi\u0107\u2019s adaptation through additional flashbacks, creating a polyperspective, Rashomon-like and enigmatic situation, in which the truth is reconstructed like a mosaic: an Uncle, over a long period of time, had sexually abused an underage niece. Such dramaturgical polyperspective is subtly and metaphorically materialized on stage. Young director Tara Mani\u0107 positions the two actors to constantly move from place to place, occupying all sides of the four-sided audience arrangement that frames a very small performance space (for most of the performance, they remain seated). Through these shifts, she visually signifies the changes in perspective on this complex story\u201c. <\/em>
Ivan Medenica, Radar<\/a><\/strong> (Serbia)

“Despite the language barrier, Svetozar Cvetkovi\u0107 and Marta Bogosavljevi\u0107 impress with their brilliant, magnificent performances. With small smiles, he is a charming monster, and with her torrent of words and numerous gestures, she is a beautiful, lively, freedom-seeking, naive teenager. Thanks to their magnificent performances, this ominous, raw play about abuse also becomes deeply moving.\u201d<\/em>
Ron Rijghard, nrc.nl<\/a> <\/strong>(Netherlands)

“Her innocence and joy are tangibly depicted, as well as the trauma of experiencing his unwanted touch. The play unfolds in an apartment on Despot Stefan Boulevard, on the Heartefact stage, very close to the audience, who surround the performance space. This physical closeness significantly strengthens the impact on us. The actors change performance locations, marking shifts in time and perspectives of narration, and mingle with us, the audience, making us a kind of voyeurs or witnesses to this provocative story. Its greatest value lies in its psychological complexity, reflecting the ambiguity of their relationship\u2014romantic and sincere on one side, necessary for both him and her to a certain extent, until the control of innocence weakens, creating space for violence.\u201d <\/em>
Ana Tasi\u0107, Politika<\/a><\/strong> (Serbia)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201eCvetkovi\u0107 is a performer of considerable charisma, and he nails the character\u2019s mix of charm, pathos and self-deception, simultaneously compelling and repellent, while Bogosavljevi\u0107 convincingly shifts from pre-teen mode to someone coming to terms with the fact that this formative relationship was abusive. The nature of the seating means you get to appreciate the performers\u2019 every glance and sigh, not to mention the occasional glimmer of tears in Cvetkovi\u0107\u2019s eyes. (\u2026) Together they milk the text for all its icky undertones and and aside from the moment when Cvetkovi\u0107 catches a strand of Bogosavljevi\u0107\u2019s hair between his fingers, the actors only touch once, hugging each other with such depth and tenderness that it feels intrusive to be watching it. I was sitting right behind them and the emotion in the air was so thick you could almost sink your fingers into it\u201d. <\/em>
Natasha Tripney, Caf\u00e9 Europa<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201eI would point out that this production represents an incredibly nuanced and thought-out approach to issues of sexual violence and molestation of minors. Under the directorial leadership of Tara Mani\u0107 and with the virtuous, full-fleshed acting of Marta Bogosavljevi\u0107 and Svetozar Cvetkovi\u0107, the performance paints empathetic portraits of a teenage girl and her uncle. (\u2026) The show\u2019s point of vividly presenting the emotional attachment between the two characters together with its positive moments is important as it presents the full complexity of a manipulative, violent and incestuous relationship\u201d. <\/em>
Borisav Mati\u0107, SeeStage<\/a><\/strong> (WB6)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201eUsing simple but effective means, director Tara Mani\u0107 avoids excessive visualisation, choosing an approach that leaves much of the action to the audience\u2019s imagination. This opens up space for interpretation and adds to the power of the experience\u2014the lack of excessive directness allows the audience to fill in the blanks themselves, making the spectacle both more impactful and more terrifying\u201d. <\/em>
Ana Bateva, Kosovo Theater Reviews<\/a><\/strong> (Bulgaria)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201eHowever, since this show is all about the violation of boundaries, Mani\u0107 and the actors are careful to respect them, maintaining them, while still communicating the message. This staging of the show is very minimalistic and simple \u2013 it\u2019s just two actors in their regular clothes, a couple of chairs, plus a little bit of music to set the tone \u2013 and a careful director\u2019s eye, one that clearly cares about presenting this sensitive topic\u201d. <\/em>
Mina Milo\u0161evi\u0107, See Stage<\/a><\/strong> (WB6)

“Svetozar Cvetkovi\u0107 and the young actress Marta Bogosavljevi\u0107 delivered excellent performances in this extremely intimate, by no means easy work, which in many ways corresponds to the current moment. News all around us often brings precisely these, unfortunately disturbing, themes of various forms of abuse behind closed doors.\u201d<\/em>
Vanesa Begi\u0107, Glas Istre<\/a><\/strong> (Croatia)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Awards<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n