Mira Trailović (Serbian Cyrillic: Мира Траиловић; née Milićević; 22 January 1924 – 7 August 1989) was a Serbian dramaturg and one of the most distinguished theatre directors in the history of Serbian and Yugoslav theatre. A pioneer of the avant-garde theatre in Eastern Europe, she was one of the founders and a driving force behind the Atelje 212 theater and BITEF, one of the most important European theatre festivals
Early life and education
Born Mira Milićević on 22 January 1924 in Kraljevo, in central Serbia, she was raised by intellectual parents both of whom were professionally involved with French language. Her mother Radmila Simić (1894-1973) taught French while her father Andrej Milićević (1893-1973) worked as translator, involved with translating 36 works of French classical literature into Serbian. The couple had one more child, a daughter Olga (born 6 June 1931, in Belgrade).
On her mother's side, Milićević descended from the cadet branch of the Simić family, notable in the 19th century Serbia, both in politics and culture. The branch's progenitor, Aleksa Simić (1800–72), held the Prime Minister of Serbia post in three terms (1843–44, 1853–55, 1856–57), while her great grandfather, Milan Simić (1827–80), was manager of the National Theatre in Belgrade (1871–75, 1877–80).
Milićević was a student at the Second girls’ high school in Belgrade as well as the Higher Music school's drama section. She then enrolled in several studies, which she never finished: technology, architecture (her father's wish) and art history (even though she was only one exam away from graduating). She finished the Higher Film school and finally graduated as a theatre director at the Belgrade's Faculty of Drama Arts. In 1967 she would become a professor of the radio direction at her alma mater.
Career
Radio Belgrade
After Belgrade was freed from German occupation on 20 October 1944, Milićević, almost by chance, became the very first announcer on Radio Belgrade in the liberated city. Soon, she switched to direction, advancing to the post of program editor at the radio's drama section. She directed over 70 radio dramas, mostly by foreign authors.
Atelje 212
She entered the world of theater as an assistant director at the Yugoslav Drama Theatre. She was a co-founder of the new theatre, Atelje 212 in 1956, with Radoš Novaković (serving as manager 1956-58) and Bojan Stupica (manager 1958-61). Atelje 212 opened with her direction of Goethe's Faust on 12 November 1956, with Trailović initially being an assistant manager (shortly acting in 1958) and in 1961 she became Atelje's manager, shifting its focus to the avant-garde plays.
Trailović herself directed over 20 plays, including some authors whose works were never before played in Serbia and Yugoslavia, like Jean-Paul Sartre (No Exit) in 1957, Eugène Ionesco (The Chairs) in 1957, Albert Camus (The Misunderstanding) in 1960 and Edward Albee (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) in 1964. Other plays include Don Juan in Hell (by George Bernard Shaw; 1956), Medal (adapted folk tales; 1957), L'Histoire du soldat (Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz; 1959), Tchin-Tchin (François Billetdoux; 1960), The Fantasticks (Tom Jones; 1962), The Cocktail Party (T. S. Eliot); 1965), Marat/Sade (Peter Weiss); 1966), Next time I'll sing to you (James Saunders; 1968), Jumpers (Tom Stoppard; 1974), The miracle in Šargan (Ljubomir Simović; 1975), The Mother (Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz; 1982), Big and Little (Botho Strauß; 1985), and Demons (Lars Norén; 1987).
Major controversy, however, was caused by her staging of the Hair, which was prepared in 1968 and premiered in 1969. A rock-musical, composed by Galt MacDermot, with lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado, stirred not just the highest political and artistic circles, but also the common people. Heavily shook and agitated by the student protests of 1968, the Communist governing class and its diehards attacked the musical as subversive, due to its hippie and anti-establishment attitude. It had such an impact, that it has been debated even today.