Bitef

★ A seventeen-year-old boy with a weapon, a not-to-be poet whose name has become a historical symbol and a frequent cause of misunderstandings, appears as the hero of a new piece by the poetess and playwright whose opus is characteristic of never-ending dismantlement of prejudices. The piece, conceived as a "heroic cabaret”, a sort of an ironic history lesson, spins the well-known yarn about the assassination in a whitehot poetic language expressing the crucial demand: the demand for freedom. Rather than a historical drama, this is a modern play which examines 'the attitude of a young man of today to this supreme demand - to be free. Historical personages, conspirators-Young Bosnians as well as ordinary people and their differing views of the incident and its true meaning all appear on the stage. The intricate web of characters and situations involves eight performers impersonating almost several dozens of characters and phenomena.

“Of key importance for this piece is that it glorifies the freedom-loving spirit. The author’s starting premise is that her heroes were freedom fighters who, inspired by profound and earnest belief, sacrificed themselves for the benefit of others. Today, from a safe distance, one can consider the Sarajevo assassination from different angles but in the end the fact remains that it was an act of rebellion against oppression, injustice and occupation. And - how do we look at a rebellion today? Not publicly, but deep inside ourselves? This is the question the production asks. In other words, the all too hackneyed phrase “laid their lives for freedom “ is the truth in this case. How do we look at it today? Can one speak about the freedom-loving spirit as an ideal which is not captured in myths alone from the perspective of the modern world and the spirit of our time?” Iva Miloševič

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48 Bitef 14

Main programme