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The National Theatre in Belgrade and the Swedish Royal Drama Theatre Dramaten, one of the oldest (founded in 1788) and most renowned European theatres, have been successfully cooperating since 2003 through exchanges of guest performances, artists and projects. Jat Airways assists and actively participates in this collaboration; complete production ensembles travel to Stockholm or Belgrade exclusively by Jat Airways.
After the successful guest performance of Faust, under the direction of Mira Ercog in Stockholm, an agreement on permanent collaboration between the two theatres was signed, and as part of this collaboration, two plays Mrs. Minister (Government Minister’s Wife) directed by Jagoš Marković, and Oedipus the King adapted and directed by Vida Ognjenović, were performed in Dramaten, while Dramaten in Belgrade performed Strindberg’s Playing With Fire and Shakespeare’s Macbeth and on 4th and 5th May 2009, respectively.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare, is directed by the outstanding Staffan Valdemar Holm, until recently the first man of the Royal Drama Theatre. Cooperation includes other fields as well. Jagoš Marković directed Queen Kristina in Stockholm for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the building of Dramaten, and Staffan V. Holm will stage Bacchantes next season on the Great Stage of the National Theatre in Belgrade.
"Belgrade is my second native town and what we do now is a continuous dialogue", said S.V. Holm at a press conference held at the National Theatre on the occasion of the performance of Hamlet. Present at the press conference were the leading men of both theatres, actors, Serbian Minister of Culture Nebojša Bradić, Jat’s commercial director Vladimir Ognjenović and Swedish Ambassador to Serbia Krister Bringeus, who pointed out that this collaboration was of outstanding importance for both cultures and both countries.
"Jat Airways has from the very beginning been included in this collaboration between the National Theatre and Dramaten. I am glad that we are part of the cultural collaboration between Sweden and Serbia and we shall do everything in the future to continue with our contribution", said Ognjenović, Jat’s commercial director.
Belgrade Charmed Hamlet and Ophelia
"My greatest pleasure and the greatest benefit from this long-term dynamic collaboration between the two theatres belongs to our Swedish actors", believes Jonas Malmsjö, a fascinating interpreter of Hamlet.
"To come here and to have such an audience, a jam-packed theatre, the great interest of the media …. It is wonderful. It can be felt that we are here in the street. I would like it if your actors had the same feeling when they are in our country. The love and competence we receive here are precious. That’s why it is a great pleasure for me to once again be in Belgrade. From our experiences during this tour and the previous tour of Dramaten, I know that Belgrade is very interested, that it has a very competent audience and an audience that really listens. You have both a public and professionals in theatres who are truly dedicated. Today it is rare and precious", says Jonas.
The compliments paid by Jonas Malmsjö are really flattering, especially when it is known that the famed Swedish actor has toured and become familiar with all of Europe and America, performing in plays directed by Ingmar Bergman and Staffan Valdemar Holm. By contrast, Rebecka Hemse has no international experience.
"I am in Belgrade for the first time and for the first time on tour outside Sweden", says Rebecka Hemse. "I am happy that it is just Belgrade I am visiting on my first European tour, where I lived to experience something as I experienced last evening. I met with the Belgrade Theatre in Sweden, I saw Mrs. Minister (Government Minister’ Wife) at Dramaten, an exciting and new performance. I hope that our collaboration will continue because it is good and important for both sides. I feel it very important to say that it has been very good and exciting to cooperate with the National Theatre in Belgrade, because it might have sooner been expected that we establish such collaboration with the theatre from Oslo, for instance, but collaboration with them would not have brought as many surprises. And the surprise is in the fact that there are so many similarities between us and that the differences are such that they only enrich us."
 The young actress says that she would like to come to Belgrade again, to see plays at Bitef and we believe that she will fly by Jat again, which she enjoyed, she says. Junas Malmsjö, however, was happiest when they landed. As we know that he has a fear of flying, we asked him what he remembered about their Stockholm-Belgrade flight.
"The little that I do remember I will never forget", he laughs. "Joking aside, the truth is that I have a fear of flying. When I came on board, I first saw a stewardess who appeared rather strict. But then she looked at me, and she saw that I was afraid and approached me, and calmed me down with several clear and smart remarks. She said exactly what was necessary to calm me down and I owe her a lot of thanks for that. Thanks to her, I felt calm during the flight, which was actually smooth and pleasant. I must say that you have very professional, able and kind personnel in the plane."
Serbs in Sweden
Vesna Stanišić, a long time playwright at Dramaten and a person who has helped immensely in establishing and maintaining the collaboration between the two theatre houses, reminds us that we should not forget how important the collaboration is to Serbians in Sweden.
"People of Serbian and Yugoslav origin came by trains and buses from the whole of Sweden (which is much bigger than the former Yugoslavia) to see the performances by Serbia’s National Theatre in Dramaten", says Vesna. "They know that as a rule there are no guest performances at Dramaten. This is an admirable precedent. And there was the theatre from Belgrade on tour and they could hear their language on stage, as Dramaten had opened its door to Serbia, of all countries. They saw Serbian actors on stage, which bears witness of Bergman’s direction, on the same stage on which performed such greats as Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman, Maks von Sydow... People cried. We here are not aware of how much this means to Serbian people in Sweden."
"I am proud that I have been a part of these events", she says.
Jat Airways is also proud to help and actively participate in these important and exciting events. | 
