A moment I remember
From the moment the leaves begin to fall from the branches covering the sidewalks, hiking trails and roads, until moment the first snowflakes fall on our windows...
That's how long autumn lasts.
"It is the last fall week, so let's share with each other the best events, memories..."
The topic provided by @Ecency-star for this week's writing competition covers that period.
The task is simple, from a period of a few months, to single out one memory, an event, that marked that period.
Since the beginning of the 2023 theater season, which coincides with the beginning of the school year but also with the beginning of autumn, I tried to buy tickets for the play "Glass Neck" at the Yugoslav Drama Theater. The elite of Serbian theater actors take part in that play: Seka Sabljić, Vesna Tirvalić, Anita Mančić, Dragan Mićanović, Irfan Mensur...
The first performance in October, for which we bought tickets, was canceled due to the illness of one of the actors, and we couldn't wait for the performance in November...
If another event related to the theater and actors had not happened on November 15, I would have listed watching this play as the best event of this fall.
But, we bought tickets for another theater performance on November 15. Comedy at the Slavija Theater.
A play based on the book by the famous Serbian comedy writer, Branislav Nusic... That evening we went to the theater to watch a comedy, and that morning we cried because of the death of the great actor, Žarko Laušević...
Honestly, I expected the actors to cancel the show if the theater management didn't already, but no. Without a minute's delay, the actors appear in front of the audience. They play their roles, joke, laugh, cry, sing, dance... They do everything the roles require of them... When the play ends and the curtain falls, the actors come out to the audience to bow and receive their well-deserved applause. The audience applauds them until the moment when the oldest among them, Caci Mihajlovic, stops the applause with one wave of his hand and addresses the audience with the following words: "Dear audience, dear guests, tonight we played this funny show for you, we laughed, we sang and we danced. And instead, we would cry. They would cry, because our great friend, our dear colleague, the great of the theater, Žarko, left us today... I would like to ask you to give a round of applause and a final greeting to our Žarko, from the stage where we are now".
The actors start clapping, the audience claps. They cry on stage and let their tears wet their face. The audience is crying. I wipe the tears from my cheeks with my shirt sleeve. A minute, two, the applause for last goodbye to the great actor does not stop... Without a bow, the actors on the stage stop clapping, turn and leave the stage, the curtain comes down, the audience continues to clap...
What an emotional moment that was.
The strongest emotion this autumn.
I'm only sorry that this emotion was caused by a sad event, but emotion was so strong that I can't forget to this day.
When I remember the feeling from that performance, I still get a chill and my eyes fill with tears.
After a few moments, we all returned to normal from the overwhelming emotion we experienced, I left the theater, headed for the car and, passing by the temple of Saint Sava, prayed for the salvation of Žarko soul. His glory!
