Play about women heroes of WWI to premiere in London

BELGRADE - "(Un)decorated", a play about Flora Sandes and Milunka Savic, will premiere Tuesday at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London at the beginning of the traditional Serbian Month in Great Britain.

The multimedia play focuses on two undercelebrated heroines - Briton Flora Sandes, the only Western woman who fought in the Serbian army in the Great War, and Serbian Milunka Savic, the most decorated woman in the history of warfare.

The project is the first theatrical production of the Serbian City Club, backed by the British embassy in Belgrade and the Serbian embassy in London as part of events marking the centenary of World War I, the PR office of the project has said in a statement.

Using the memoirs and biographies of the two heroines, original video and audio footage - while also relying on "1915", a book by Serbian writer Branislav Nusic and improvisations by the actors - the play examines the way in which personal and national motives are intertwined in an individual's quest for freedom, and to what extent female pragmatism can sometimes overcome patriotic idealism.

Director Maja Milatovic-Ovadia notes that it is a process that will remain open to subsequent improvements and development and that interactivity, flexibility and creativity are the main characteristics of the project.

The play is performed in the English language. The creative team also includes dramaturge Duska Radosavljevic, video designer Mafalda Cruz, sound designer and composer Jon McLeod, costume designer and Snezana Nikolic.

The cast is comprised of Laura Harling, Peter Randall, Cristina Catalina, Vesna Vujat and Darko Baric.

The Serbian Month in Great Britain will be held from January 13 through February...