Major and Helena
- Aleksa Jovčić
The show is based on the true story of Helena Vuković – a former Serbian army major and trans woman. The story follows her life and personal evolution, speaks about the injustices that happened to her, about the pains and the joys – and not least the beauty of trans/queer life in Serbia. It builds on the conflict between the patriarchal, conservative and the liberal environment of the LGBTQ+ community. It discusses themes such as difference, courage and the need to be authentic and honest – and to offer those who are lonely comfort. How much courage do we need to be who we are in a conservative society?
Jovčić enriches the linear narrative – with poetic digressions – with costume changes, symbolically charged objects (such as a woman's curled hair) and dance and music interludes, aided by the band Glasovi iz unutrašnjosti, which accentuates individual scenes with great precision. The monodrama thus tells the story of a quite specific and intersectional trans life, which echoes the one-dimensional stereotypes we are used to seeing in the mass media. Helena (Vuković) is a trans woman, a lesbian, a mother, an activist and a major. In 2015, the leadership of the Serbian army stripped Vuković of her major rank, which Vuković won back in an unprecedented ruling, which is why her story has resonated so much across the region. At the same time, Helena is a fan of punk music she grew up with, and its inclusion in the production, both in aesthetics and sonority, imbues the entire performance with an undercurrent of anti-social energy that fits the discrimination and institutional hurdles the protagonist has endured. As a result, Major and Helena is an optimistic story and never lapses into a pity party for the trans subject, as is often the case in mass media depictions.