Stevan Čekić holds a notable place in the period of the emergence of Serbian theater. Our theatrical history does not know when and where he was born. Borivoje Stojković mentions in his History of Serbian Theater that Čekić first appeared in the troupe of Jovan Knežević in 1860, where he remained until he moved to the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad in July 1861. According to Stojković, his significance lies in the fact that he had his own theater troupe, which apparently performed not only in Belgrade but also in other cities in Serbia.
I initially assumed he was from Vranjevo, as he joined Knežević’s theater only when he arrived in Vranjevo (Novi Bečej) with his troupe from Čanada, Semikluša, and Kikinda, where he formed the first professional theater troupe. I was uncertain because there is currently no family with that surname in Novi Bečej (Vranjevo), nor does anyone remember anyone with that surname in the last fifty years. However, I undertook research, and my efforts paid off. In the birth register of the Orthodox Church in Vranjevo, under entry no. 7,645, it states that Stefan Čekić was born on August 10, 1839, according to the old calendar, or July 29, 1839, according to the new, to father Avakum and mother Jelisaveta.
Stefan Čekić joined Jovan Knežević’s troupe in 1860, and on July 16, 1861, he was accepted as a member of the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad along with other actors from Knežević’s troupe. However, he did not stay long there; when Knežević formed a second theater troupe, he returned to Vranjevo and joined it. With this new Knežević theater, he performed in many places in Vojvodina, including Timișoara.
Čekić regretted leaving the Serbian National Theater, primarily because of the high salaries that actors received in Novi Sad, as well as the fact that the theater in Novi Sad had a larger collective where the social life was more interesting and developed, and the actors there were of his age and theatrical experience, which was not the case with the new Knežević troupe.
He attempted to negotiate his return to the Serbian National Theater with a letter dated April 7, 1862, sent from Senta (where Knežević’s theater was performing at that time) to Jovan Đordević, offering to return to his former position. Knowing that Jovan Đordević viewed Jovan Knežević’s ongoing theatrical activity with great impatience, he wrote, among other things, that there was discord in Knežević’s company: "everyone wants to be older but no one understands anything." At the end of the letter, he says, "... if it doesn’t happen (referring to a position in the Serbian National Theater - note L.M.), then I’d rather go home than be ashamed with them."
Hoping to return to the Serbian National Theater, Čekić and Gavrilović showed a rather indifferent attitude towards working in Knežević’s theater, causing dissatisfaction among the actors. Since he did not receive a positive response from the Serbian National Theater, Čekić attempted to create a rift in Knežević’s troupe, counting on separating a number of young acting talents to organize his own troupe. Upon Jovan Knežević’s arrival with his theater in Novi Bečej in November 1862, a conflict arose with Čekić, and in December 1862, a large part of the troupe joined Stevan Čekić. Čekić and his troupe immediately began performing in major Serbian towns in Vojvodina and later in cities in Serbia.
Thus, in 1863, Čekić and his troupe performed in Melenci, Srbobran, Ruma, Ilok, Šid, and Sremska Mitrovica, and the following year, they moved to Serbia, where they performed in Šabac and Loznica. This was the first troupe to perform in Serbian cities, excluding Belgrade, where troupes from Vojvodina had previously performed.
It is unknown how long Čekić’s theater troupe operated, but his activity possibly resurfaced with a newly established troupe in Belgrade in 1866 (perhaps it was founded there). It seems to have been a well-organized troupe, smaller in the number of actors, but it included exceptionally talented young actors such as Miloš Cvetić, Fotije Iličić, Marko Subotić, Milica Iličić-Biberović, and Đura Rajković with his wife Mila, among others.
Many of these actors from Čekić’s troupe later had their own traveling troupes, and this should also be seen as his contribution to Serbian theater.
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