09. 10. 2009.

The Programme of the 49th MESS International Theatre Festival revealed

At the first official press conference of the 49th MESS International Theatre Festival, held on October 8 in Sarajevo, MESS officials presented the programme of this year’s Festival, which will take place between 16 and 26 October. It was announced that the MESS Festival will present its audiences with 26 plays from 13 countries, which will be organised into 4 Festival sections (the World, Mittel, Children's and Festival Premieres). During the press conference, Festival Director Dino Mustafić expressed his solidarity with the employees of the Mostar National Theatre and the Croatian National Theatre in Mostar, and voiced his concern about the approach that Mostar city and cantonal authorities have towards the cultural sector.

Director Dino Mustafić also announced that this year's Festival will be opened by the play „Hell on Earth“, directed by Argentinean directress Constanza Macras and produced by German theatre troupe Dorkypark.

Pointing out that someone of the plays presented will certainly inspire audiences at the MESS, Mustafić also used the opportunity to announce the play “Ice”, an extremely “shocking and controversial” play by Hungarian director Mandruszo Kornel, as well as the play “Isabella's Room”, by Belgian director Jan Lauwers, which is probably one of the best performances to be presented at this year's MESS. Mustafić also announced several plays from our region, describing the play “Will we ever be happy again”, a Serbian-Dutch cooperation, as one of the “strongest theatre productions that deal with the question of war”. 

The plays representing Bosnia and Herzegovina at this year’s Festival, according to the decision of Festival selector Primož Bebler, are: “Zvijer na mjesecu“ (Beast on the Moon, Mostar Youth Theatre), directed by Dino Mustafić (which, according to Festival rules, can only take park in the acting achievement competition), as well as “Nora”, directed by Haris Pašović and produced by the East West Centre, and “Oblak od kamena – moja sjećanja“ (Stone Cloud – My Memories), directed by Filip Grinvald and produced by the Banja Luka National Theatre of the Republic of Srpska.

Minister for Culture and Sport in the Federation of BiH, Gavrilo Grahovac, expressed his pleasure, despite all its objective limitations, to see the MESS Festival “take the place of one of the most significant regional theatre events“, and pointed out that it will be his pleasure to attend the MESS for the 46^th time.

Also addressing the media present was the director of the Mostar National Theatre, Šerif Aljić, who stressed the seriousness of the situation that had befallen an institution that has existed for over 60 years, and announced that there will be additional efforts to prevent the Theatre from closing down. Furthermore, Dino Mustafić added: “Never has any theatre institution been shut down in Bosnia and Herzegovina. And nowhere in this region has a theatre been shut down in the past 50 years. The MESS Festival will not offer only verbal support to the Mostar National Theatre. Instead, we will use all the methods available to us to put pressure on the competent authorities and prevent this inhumane act.“

Among other renowned theatre names coming to this year's MESS are Paolo Magelli, with the play “Tonight, We Improvise”, produced by the Ivan pl. Zajc Croatian National Theatre of Rijeka, Croatia, as well as Ivan Popovski from Macedonia (“Times...Seasons”, Russia), Jean Louis Martinelli (“Medeia”, France), and many others.

The sale of tickets for MESS performances are already on sale. For more information, please call us at 061 031 678 between 10 am and 8 pm.