I know, it sounds corny, but if you don't believe me, check his ID.

On the island of Cres, near the coast of Istria, a final performance of Shakespeare’s King Lear took place at the small theater of Malo Brijuno, marking the end of a nearly three-decade-long journey. The play, which had been performed over a hundred times since its debut more than 26 years ago, was last staged with Rade Šerbedžija in the title role, his final appearance on stage after decades of work. The evening was bookended by a roundtable discussion held at the Summer Cinema on Brijuni, moderated by Branimir Pofuk, and attended by key figures who had shaped the history of the Ulysses Theater, including Tatjana Aćimović, Marina Vujčić, Duško Ljuština, Boris Dežulović, Nataša Govedić, Lenka Udovički, and Rade Šerbedžija himself. Boris Dežulović, one of the organizers, spoke passionately about the extraordinary connection between the play and celestial events. He highlighted a scene from the second act of the first act of King Lear, in which the dialogue refers to recent solar and lunar eclipses. These references, he explained, helped scholars date the production to 1605, the year of two notable astronomical phenomena: a lunar eclipse on October 27 and a total solar eclipse on November 12. This alignment of cosmic events with the narrative of the play underscored the deep symbolic resonance of the performance. Dežulović further connected these historical occurrences to a similar pattern in 1999, when both a lunar eclipse on July 27 and a solar eclipse on August 11 occurred within 16 days. During this period, Borislav Vujčić began contemplating how to bring Rade Šerbedžija back to Croatia. “Seeking Ithaca for Ulysses,” Dežulović recalled, “Rade, Boro, and Lenka, guided by Shakespearean and Joyceian stars, found themselves in Pula and were landed on the small Brijuno.” The metaphor of Odysseus searching for his homeland resonated deeply with the group’s shared vision of creating a unique artistic space. The cycle continued into 2026, with another set of eclipses, this time a partial solar eclipse on August 12 followed by a partial lunar eclipse on August 28. Dežulović noted that the final staging of King Lear on Brijuno was planned precisely for August 13, just one day after the solar eclipse and 16 days after Rade Šerbedžija’s 80th birthday. “Rade no longer plays King Lear, he is King Lear,” Dežulović declared. “It sounds absurd, but if you don’t believe me, check his ID.” This was no coincidence, according to Tatjana Aćimović, the first producer of the Ulysses Theater’s inaugural season in 2001. She recounted how her connection to Brijuno and Istria dated back several years before the theater’s official launch. In 1998, she had already been present on the island during the preparation of Dejan Aćimović’s film Is it clear, friend?, which was shot in Istria in 1999. It was during this time that she met the people and spaces that would later become the foundation of a radically different artistic narrative. Rade Šerbedžija, Lenka Udovički, and Borislav Vujčić began seriously discussing the idea of a theater on Brijuno around 2000. “King Lear did not appear on Brijuno by chance,” Aćimović emphasized. “Rade and Lenka saw early on the possibility of merging Shakespeare’s world with the unique setting of the Small Brijuno.” What followed was an almost inexplicable energy, an unexplainable force that brought them together. Marina Vujčić, who joined the project as a language consultant and editor of the theater’s program booklet, described 2001 as “the best summer of my life.” At that time, the Small Brijuno had little infrastructure, no experience in organizing theatrical productions on an island, and communication relied on a single telephone line and dial-up internet. Yet, despite these challenges, everyone worked tirelessly. A small room on the ground floor became the hub of activity, with multiple people working simultaneously, writing scripts, organizing production, handling accommodation, sending letters, but the boundaries between their roles quickly dissolved. “No one ever said, ‘That isn’t my job,’” Vujčić reflected. “No one ever hesitated. Everyone simply did what needed to be done.” This atmosphere of collaboration and unity laid the groundwork for the first season of the Ulysses Theater, a project that would eventually evolve into a distinct artistic movement rooted in the island’s landscape and cultural heritage.