The Premiere of "The Mayor, or This is a Play About Mujaga Komadina"

 

The play "The Mayor, or This is a Play About Mujaga Komadina" reminds us of what it truly means to be a citizen—one to whom history does not simply "happen," but one who actively participates in and shapes it.

In its March 1910 edition, the Sarajevski list newspaper began a brief text in its "News from the Province" section with the words: A Benefactor of the People. This news was published on the occasion of the first session held by the Mayor of Mostar, Mujaga Komadina, with city councilors. During the session, city needs were discussed, and Mujaga Komadina presented generous gifts to support societies such as "Gajret," "Prosvjeta," and "Napredak," as well as various singing and artisan guilds. Additionally, he donated his three-year mayoral salary to the city’s benefit. From the very first day he took the mayoral chair, Komadina became recognizable as a Benefactor of the People. Exactly one hundred and sixteen years later, again in the month of March, the citizens of Mostar filled the seats of the National Theater in Mostar to witness the premiere of the play "The Mayor, or This is a Play About Mujaga Komadina," written by Adnan Lugonić and directed by Dino Mustafić.

The Mayor

The very title of this theatrical piece highlights the term "Mayor." The character of Mujaga Komadina in this play operates on two levels: the people’s mayor and the people’s benefactor. In this sense, the play seeks to transcend the biographical Mujaga and, based on symbolic capital, emphasize the importance of the figure of the Citizen. In this case, it refers to a person at the head of a civic order that should represent the central social axis. The character of Mujaga Komadina was embodied by Izudin Bajrović. Mujaga is a man who preserves his identity, dressing in traditional costume, yet actively affirms and represents the fundamental figure of the citizen. At one point in the play, it is emphasized how Mostar evolved from a kasaba (small oriental town) into a city during Mujaga’s time. It would not have become a city had Mujaga not known how to be a citizen. In this sense, I recognize the importance of this piece. A citizen is conceptually envisioned as someone with political agency, and accordingly, as a subject of social life. On the Mostar stage, Mujaga’s character appears as one to whom history does not just happen, but who actively participates in and molds it.

When Austria-Hungary takes over the administration of Bosnia, he does not act as a mere observer. This is that figure of a citizen who does not act from a distance. A striking scene occurs when Emperor Franz Joseph I visits Mostar; Mujaga lined the streets with carpets from the railway station to the Hotel Bristol, and they say even the approach to the Old Bridge from Velika Tepa down Hendek. However, in this role, Mujaga is the Mayor, the first citizen of Mostar. Both Mostar as a city and Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state suffer precisely from an absence of citizens—those individuals who insist on respecting institutions regardless of which constituent people they belong to. Often, the position of a citizen turns into mere performance, without questioning the relationship toward the political community and individual responsibility. Throughout the play, act by act, Mujaga’s character represents a process. Behind him are the musafirhana (guest house), mosques, bridges, buildings, the city power plant—diverse architectural entities arising from the active role of the "First Citizen." A citizen is ready to enter into conflict with their own community—something Mujaga did not lack—in order to perform the active function of a social corrector when society fails its principles. One becomes a Benefactor of the People when society, or the citizenry, sets certain institutional ideals recognized as the public good and stays close to those ideals.

A Citizen in the Fullest Sense of the Word

Among the people, the sevdalinka song "Dvore gradi Komadina Mujo" (Mujo Komadina is Building Palaces) is well known, and it is through this song that we primarily know of this benefactor. This song is a light, melodic sevdalinka. However, the composer Mirza Redžepagić explains that music must be an integral part of the dramatic action, not an independent element. In this regard, a bold and shrewd turn occurs within the play: this song receives an almost rock arrangement imbued with intensity. The change in rhythm and energy is not just an aesthetic choice, but a direct reflection of the atmosphere and political circumstances in which Mujaga operates. The construction of publicly significant institutions then, as now, does not happen in a slow rhythm. It is full of disputes and negotiations. A good example is the scene in which Mujaga negotiates with the Austro-Hungarian Baron regarding the opening of the Kiraethana (Reading Room). Mujaga received the permit and signature, but it was by no means a simple process. Here, the music fits the piece perfectly, creating a complete correlation with the events on stage. This musical "intensity" perfectly mirrors the complex political and social environment of Mostar under Austro-Hungarian rule: the faster tempo and more aggressive tones communicate the tension between local interests and imperial demands. Mujaga did not just "build palaces"; he navigated through bureaucracy, resistance, and social change. When a scene demands decisiveness—whether negotiating with the Empire or his own society—the music intensifies, ensuring the audience does not view Komadina as a static figure but as an energetic, almost rebellious visionary fighting for his city—as a citizen in full capacity, not a mere observer in the role of a victim.

#NOTES "What a man sows, that shall he reap, for without sowing there is no harvest." — Ašik, Biser, 1913-1914.