Rehearsals of the new play “Enabled Theatre” written and directed by Haris Pašović have begun at the Serbian National Theatre (SNP) in Novi Sad. The play is the result of work on an international project whose goal is to illuminate the lives of persons with disabilities. The premiere is expected in the beginning of April 2024.
“Enabled Theatre” has as its main theme the lives of children and people with autism and cerebral palsy, but also the lives of their families, institutions that care for them, their everyday lives, the challenges they face… Author and director Haris Pašović points out that it was not easy to create a dramatic text considering that the backbone is made up of material whose essence cannot be expressed in words and that the acting’s creations are crucial for the content.
“On the play, I’m working with a cast that got very deep into the whole process. We’ve actually been working on the Project for a year. We held workshops in Novi Sad, Budva and Sarajevo; we worked with our colleague Larisa Lipovac from Zagreb, who is a choreographer and one of the partners in this story, but partnership with institutions that care for persons with disabilities is crucial for us. In Novi Sad, Sarajevo and Budva, we visited centres and day care centres that deal with and where people with disabilities live, spent time with them and gained a certain insight into their lives, which we now wish to convey to the audience,” explains Pašović and adds that the actors are facing a huge challenge, both acting and human, but he has no doubts that they will perform their roles fantastically.
Rehearsals at the Serbian National Theatre are practically the beginning of the last phase of the Project, when all participants will translate their experiences into what they learned in the previous period at the workshops. Professional support throughout the project to the author and acting team is provided by representatives of the school ŠOSO Milan Petrović, Assistant Director Svetlana Bašević and psychologist Maja Kukobat, who were present at the first reading rehearsal.
According to Pašović, the journey from idea to realization was long, and the Serbian National Theatre from the very beginning expressed great interest and enthusiasm for the Project, which will make the world of persons with disabilities more visible.
“Whilst working on the play What would you give your life for, we started thinking about what it was like for the people who lead such difficult lives, and yet they live, their parents fight for them, institutions fight for them… and that was the first contact. So, our first contact with the School Milan Petrović was back in 2016. Then it took a long time until we developed the concept, found the production circumstances, and now, after eight years, we are meeting here in the final phase of the Project,” said Pašović.
In addition to the author and director Haris Pašović, the creative team also comprises costume designer Marina Sremac, composer Dino Šukalo, scenographer Ivana Jančić and choreographer Larisa Lipovac. The play features: Gordana Đurđević Dimić, Lidija Stevanović, Sanja Ristic Krajnov, Jelena Antonijević, Mina Pavlica, Marija Feldeši, Milan Kovačević, Marko Savković, Vukašin Ranđelović, Aljoša Đidić, Aleksandar Sarapa and Rade Perović.
The play is a co-production of the East West Center Sarajevo, the Serbian National Theatre Novi Sad, the Festival Grad teatar Budva and the TALA Dance Centre from Zagreb. The Project Enabled Theatre is co-funded and supported by the European Union through the Creative Europe programme.
