22. 10. 2009.

Round Table Discussion - Nora, Lonesome West and Stone Balloon – My Memories

The third MESS round table discussion, held yesterday at noon at the Sana Conference Room at the Hotel Bosna, was focused on the performances Nora, Lonesome West and Stone Balloon – My Memories. The first part of the discussion, moderated by Bojan Munjin, was dedicated to the play Nora, but also to the general achievements and concept of the East West Center, while the latter part of the discussion was a parallel analysis of Lonesome West and Stone Balloon – My Memories. The moderator Bojan Munjin introduced all three productions as describing the problems of violence and freedom.

The first discussion was initiated by director Haris Pašović. Speaking about the work of the East West Centre, he emphasized that all of the Centre’s productions are masterpieces of drama, as is Bolero, which classifies as both a musical and a choreographic masterpiece. Addressing the production of Nora, Pašović defined by key problem of the play as follows: The basic question that Nora asks is not “Am I a free woman?, but rather, “Am I a free human being?”. In an effort to establish a link between Nora and The Class Enemy (both plays are part of this year’s MESS), Pašović stated that the two are two poles of the same reality, and pointed out at the end: “I don’t think that the aim of this play is to offer any kind of emancipation, but to speak the truth in a way that is interesting to audiences.” In an answer to the question, posed by theoretician and Professor of Literature Nedžad Ibrahimović, about why there is no talk of dramaturgy, directing, actors, the Academy, the discussion was joined by some of the acting crew of the East West Center, who voiced their own visions of contemporary theatre, spoke about their experiences in preparing a production, working on their roles etc…The first part of the discussion was ended by a remark by Bojan Munjin: “The idea of freedom here and now will certainly interest us more here and now, than tomorrow morning.”

In part two of the discussion, focused on productions of Lonesome West and Stone Balloon – My Memories, the audience heard from the directress of Lonesome West Selma Spahić, the director of Stone Balloon – My Memories, Filip Grinvald, as well as Sanin Milavić, a member of the cast of Lonesome West. In answer to the question of why she decided to stage a Martin McDonagh play, Selma Spahić said that she was interested in black humour as a genre, arguing that this text was very bitter and emotional and that it tackles the problem of a basic lack of communication, and claiming that people who are enveloped by their phobias themselves create an impossibility to establish communication. Speaking about his character in the play, Sanin Milavić stated that the essence of the character was that he starts from scratch. Filip Grinvald then stated that this production represents his need to dedicate himself to the issue of freedom, arguing thus that theatre exists only because of those who work in theatre. After the moderator asked the directors to compare their productions from this year and from the last, Selma Spahić point out that it is material and form that shape a play, and that the artistic grounding of her play this year is the aesthetic of reducing a play to micro-worlds. Addressing once again the question of how the audience reacted to his play, Filip Grinvald ended the discussion by saying: “laughing at something we recognize will certainly lead to tragedy.”