About the play
Deep beneath the roots of the oldest Oak in an ancient forest beats the Heart of the World — quiet, forgotten, yet still alive. People once knew how to hear it. They knew how to listen to the earth, to dance with the wind, to speak softly when entering the forest. They knew songs that heal and rhythms that wake the stars.
But a time of forgetting came. People drifted away — from the forest, from nature, from their own hearts.
One day Mila, a girl from the city, comes to the forest, led by a dream of a weeping tree. In traces of leaves, stones, and water she finds the door to forgotten knowledge. With the help of wondrous beings — the Sun's Messenger, a playful butterfly who carries joy in motion; the Night Glimmer, a wise Owl who guards the secrets of the stars; and the Old Oak, keeper of time and strength — Mila sets out in search of the Ancient Rhythm: the one that connects everything that breathes, blossoms, sings, and rustles.
To find it, she must pass through four ancient paths — Earth, Water, Wind, and Flame — and along the way discover not only the world's Ancient Rhythm, but also her own song. The one that heals. The one no one else can sing for her. But the Shadow — a being of oblivion and doubt — follows her… trying to silence what is already on the verge of vanishing.
Will Mila manage to discover the Ancient Rhythm and her own song? Will she awaken the Heart of the World?
“The Heart Beneath the Oak” is a touching play about nature as a living whole, about the soul of the world, and about the reawakening of balance through attention, listening, and tenderness — first toward ourselves, and then toward everything around us.
Creative team
- Script & direction: Tatjana Milanov
- Cast: Dragiša Drača / Ilija Blagojević, Đurđa Pavlović / Bojana Štrbac, Tatjana Milanov
- Music: Marko Kostić, Zoran Nestorović, Konstantin Acevski
- Set design: Tatjana Milanov
- Costumes: Ana Jović
Performed by the “Hajde Obraduj Dan” theater.