Рок опера Исус Христос суперстар у Атељеу 212 (1972–1973)
Rock Opera Jesus Christ Superstar at Atelje 212 (1972–1973)

Summary/Abstract: The rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar reached the Belgrade theatre Atelje 212 in 1972 following the path paved by musical Hair in 1969. Jesus Christ Superstar had its premiere in Atelje 212 on 23 June1972, after the management of the theatre saw the play on Broadway scene and thought it could be one of the most ambitious theatre projects of Atelje 212. Thus, the premiere of the Yugoslav Jesus Christ Superstar took place only eight months after its US premiere; it was the seventh in the world and preceded even the premiere in London. It was broadcasted by Television Belgrade and this was the first time that the state television directly broadcasted the theatre premiere. It was considered to be a very important social event. However, the writings of theatre critics and quality press about the premiere of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar in Atelje 212 were mostly negative. On the other hand, the rock’n’roll critics showed more understanding. The main impression was that the premiere did not reach the expected success, that its performance was significantly behind that of the Hair and that only some young amateur actors from rock’n’roll circle were successful. Such impressions endured throughout the next season. During the ideological persecution of certain theatre scenes in 1972 whose purpose was to sort out the cultural scene in the Socialist Republic of Serbia, Hair was one of the first to be removed from the repertoire in 1973 because it was accused of insulting President Josip Broz Tito and the Yugoslav People’s Army. Its last performance ein Atelje 212 was on 4 February 1973, and soon after that, Jesus Christ Superstar was also removed from repertoire after its last performance on 9 June 1973. Party censors described it as a religious, anti-communist and anti-socialist play. However, none of this was true, and the Yugoslav public was well aware of the fact that the play was denying Christian theology. The rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar stayed on the repertoire of Atelje 212 only for a year. It had 21 performances: 19 performances on the scene of Atelje 212 in Belgrade and two more performances in Rijeka.

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