KULTURA / CULTURE
Mitchell, represents a completely new way of creating theatre,” stresses Me- denica. The play addresses toxic pro- fessional relationships in the world of academia, but its distinct speci- ficity is that the electricity required to stage the play is generated in it – by pedalling bicycles; the stage de- sign is created from recycled mate- rials and the costumes are re-used from old productions, which justi- fies the play’s “ecological” epithet. This prestigious festival also of- fers cleansing through art, which is to be expected of the theatre. “We will reach catharsis primarily in a classical way, through identi- fying emotionally with the unfor- tunate destinies of the heroes. But not one of the plays is severe, harsh- ly judgemental, rather many of them are characterised by the Chekhovi- an combination of warmth and hu-
“LOVE is undeniably a major fes- tival hit worldwide and that’s con- firmed on all stages. The BBC even made its own film adaptation of the play, because it possesses that which audiences love the most: strong emo- tions and outstanding acting,” says the BITEF artistic director, explain- ing why he’s singling out that play. With the pieces Crises and Solo, by top Slovenian theatre directors of the youngest generation Žiga Div- jak and Nina Rajić Kranjac, both of whom are gifted and rebellious, he predicts a bright future – one that will already start at Bitef. Medenica also believes in the potential of the play Dr. Auslender (Made for Ger- many), accentuated by the aforemen- tioned performance venue. Howev- er, this artistic director promises that audiences will also enjoy all the oth- er performances.
mour,” says Medenica.
Although the attention of the audience is directed towards tough issues, its finale, with the Slovenian play Crises, suggests that such sit- uations can also prove stimulating; that they propel us into action and infuse us with optimism. And that same tone runs through the very structure of some of the plays: they are not the spawn of a single au- thor, but rather the fruit of cooper- ative work and the ideas of all par- ticipants, and each layer carries its own poetics. Although Medenica says of all the pieces selected that he “loves them like his own children”, he none- theless has his favourites, which is why he recommends the Alexander Zeldin play LOVE, to be performed at the Port of Belgrade’s Plava Sala [Blue Hall] on 30 th September.
42 | Pozorište » Theatre
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