KULTURA / CULTURE
Lindita, produced by the National Theatre of Greece, launches its Eu- ropean tour from Bitef. Inspired by the funerary customs of this part of Europe, the play follows the story of one Balkan family and the ways its members deal with the loss of a loved one. Under the scope of the main programme, the audience will also have an opportunity to watch the Hungarian play Singing Youth, pro- duced by the Budapest-based Trafó House of Contemporary Arts, which examines, in an interesting way, the construction of the national stadi-
sisting social and systemic injustice. Tanja Šljivar (text) and Selma Spahić (director) joined forces to work on the play All Adventurous Women Do, produced by Belgrade’s Theatre Atelje 212. Endeavouring to address the generation gap, but also the neglecting of young voices in the Balkans, Šljivar and Spahić found inspiration in the true story of seven 13-year-old girls who fell pregnant on a school trip. Audiences will also have an op- portunity to watch the Belgrade Dra- ma Theatre-produced play Divine Comedy, directed by Frank Castorf and representing a strong critique of consumerism in today’s neolib- eral capitalism. The theatrical heart of Europe Apart from the aforementioned main programme shows, Bitef is this year again preparing a number of supporting programmes, ‘side pro- grammes’, which include Bitef Po- lyphony, Circobalkana and Meeting the Authors. This all serves to en- sure that, during the days of the fes- tival, Belgrade becomes a great stage for new artistic tendencies, experi- ments and ideas. And that was pre- cisely the intention of the founders of this festival, Mira Trailović and Jovan Ćirilov, who breathed life in- to Bitef back in 1967, only to turn it into one of Europe’s biggest theatre festivals over the years that followed. In those first decades, during the 1960s and ‘70s, the Belgrade pub- lic had opportunities to watch the boldest productions from around the world, from stage experiments to classical plays, and in the polit- ical context of the time, Belgrade and Bitef came to represent a place for East and West to meet. Guests of Belgrade and Bitef during those years included Samuel Beckett, Peter Brook, Jean-Paul Sartre, Bob Wilson, the Living Theatre, Pina Bausch, La Mama, Jerzy Grotowski and many others. Legend has it that, back in 1971, journalists asked Eugène Ion- esco what he’d seen in Belgrade, to which he replied: “Mira Trailović. Isn’t that more than enough?
Snago, ne pristaj da budeš nečija U skladu sa radom selektor- skog tima, za slogan ovogo- dišnjeg festivala izabran je stih „Snago, ne pristaj da budeš nečija“ iz pesme „Šuma, plug, jagorčevina“ mlade pesniki- nje Radmile Petrović. U pesmi, objavljenoj u zbirci „Moja ma- ma zna šta se dešava u grado- vima“, autorka se bavi pitanji- ma nasleđa i pretkinja.
STRENGTH, DON’T LET YOURSELF BE ANYONE’S In accordance with the work of the team of selectors, the slo- gan for this year’s festival was chosen as the verse “Strength, don’t let yourself be any- one’s”, from young poet Radmi- la Petrović’s poem Šuma, plug, jagorčevina [Forest, Plough, Primrose]. In the poem, pub- lished in Radmila’s collection My Mum Knows What’s Happening in Cities, the author addresses the issues of heritage and an- cestry.
um (Puskás Aréna) in Hungary and the social context in which it was created. Regional powers This year’s Bitef will once again bring together some of the most in- teresting names in the region. Re- turning to the festival this autumn is one of its former artistic selectors, theatre director Anja Suša, whose play #Jeanne is based on a text by famous Croatian writer Ivana Sajko. Co-pro- duced by Riksteatern, the Swedish na- tional touring theatre, and Dramaten, the Stockholm-based Royal Dramat- ic Theatre, this play is a contempo- rary version of the tale of Joan of Arc, which deals with the potential of re-
42 | Pozorište » Theatre
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