Over the past few years, drag shows have become sold-out events in Croatia’s capital, especially after the stellar success of House of Flamingo, a collective that brought drag to the mainstream culture of pop music, fashion, and social events. If talking about the elements of drag shows, theatre is definitely a crucial part of them. It was the motive for students of Zagreb’s Academy of Dramatic Art to form their collective in 2024 called House of Ambicía.

The new ‘house’ announced their upcoming show ‘One Flesh‘ on Tuesday, January 21 at Močvara, Zagreb. We had a short conversation with Jurica Nikolić, one of the show’s authors, about their house, theatre, and the upcoming show.
“One Flesh deals with the research and questioning of darlings within an institution where heteronormativity and sexism are currently dominant“, Jurica explained, adding that all House of Ambicía members are students of the Academy.
The show was created as the graduation final project of student Marko Čavlović in 2024 as part of the “They Perform Now” platform.
“In addition to the critical aspect, our performance went through an artistic process through designing the aesthetics of the entire performance, creating choreography, text, and montage visuals. It was placed in a non-genre space that combines elements of a fun show and contemporary performance”, pointed out Jurica Nikolić, the co-author, performer, text writer, and director of music and editing.

Mateo Babić is a performer in charge of choreography, text and he directed the show along with Jurica Nikolić. Jan Samek was in charge of dramaturgy and wrote the show’s text with the co-authors.
Jana Božić, Lea Brcko, Gabrijela Kambić Kovačić, Nina Jugo, Emanuel Ćosić, Jurica Nikolić, and Mateo Babić perform in the ‘One Flesh’ show, while Igor Markić-Nikolac is in charge of light design. Cinematography credits go to Sven Mrkonjić, while the authors give special thanks and acknowledgments to Ida Antunović and Irja Šipus.
You can find more information about the upcoming show and House of Ambicía on their Instagram page.