“In the Ceiling the Stars Are Shining”, based on the novel by Swedish author Johanna Thydell, adapted for the stage by Tijana Grumić and directed by Damjan Kecojević, will mark its 50th performance on 20 October at 8 pm at the Duško Radović Little Theatre. Since its premiere on 10 October 2024, this story of growing up, love and loss has won numerous festival awards and recognition from professional juries and audiences across the region.
The production was co-produced by the Little Theatre Duško Radović  and the Gorgone Association, with Olivera Kecojević as producer. The novel was translated into Serbian by Suzana Živković and Zorica Janković, adapted for the stage by Tijana Grumić, and directed by Damjan Kecojević, who also devised the stage movement. The creative team includes set designer Zorana Petrov, costume designer Aleksandra Lalić, composer Adde Huumonen and theatre director Bojana Lazić, who designed the lighting.
Jenna is portrayed at different ages by Mina Nenadović, Julija Petković and Marta Đurica. The cast also includes Anđela Alavirević, Nevena Kočović, Mladen Lero, Filip Stankovski, Sunčica Milanović, Jelena Ilić, Jovana Cvetković and Lana Adžić / Jelena Ćuruvija Đurica.
Johanna Thydell wrote the novel at the age of nineteen, drawing on her own experience of her mother’s illness and death. In 2003, the book received Sweden’s prestigious August Prize in the children’s and young adult literature category. The stage adaptation preserves the story’s emotional complexity, making room for both humour and grief, and for closeness and misunderstandings between generations. It speaks to young people navigating the challenges of growing up, while also reminding adults of their own youth and offering a different perspective on their children’s experiences.
At the heart of the story is Jenna, a girl whose everyday life revolves around school, friendships, first love and insecurities, alongside the reality of her mother’s serious illness. Her need to belong among her peers coexists with her fear for someone she loves. It is within this intertwining of experiences that the production creates space to talk about feelings that are often difficult to put into words.
The production’s festival journey has brought awards for best production, stage adaptation, direction and acting. At the 20th Pozorište Zvezdarište Festival, it won the Grand Prix and the Children’s Jury Award, while Tijana Grumić received the award for stage adaptation and Mina Nenadović was honoured for her portrayal of Jenna. At the 33rd Kotor Festival of Theatre for Children, it received the award for best overall production and first prize from the Jury of the City of Kotor, alongside awards for Damjan Kecojević’s direction and Mina Nenadović’s performance.
At the FAS Festival in Zrenjanin, it was named best production by both the participants’ jury and the educators’ jury. At the Days of Jurislav Korenić Festival in Sarajevo, it won the Avaz Dragon Award for best overall production and the Audience Award. At the International Theatre Meetings in Brčko, Julija Petković and Mina Nenadović received the Best Actress Award for their portrayals of Jenna, while Sunčica Milanović was named Best Young Actress for her role as Jenna’s mother.
The 50th performance comes in the year in which Radović Evening Stage celebrated its 40th anniversary. Damjan Kecojević, the production’s director and artistic director of the Little Theatre Duško Radović, established a new programming direction for the stage, grounded in contemporary theatre practice, freedom of expression and the exploration of boundaries. As a place for dialogue, exploration and discovery, Evening Stage makes room for its audiences’ dilemmas, silences and unspoken thoughts. “In the Ceiling the Stars Are Shining” has helped define this direction, bringing different experiences and generations together through theatre that encourages freedom of thought and opens up new perspectives.