Espi Tomičić: “It’s no longer shameful to talk about your background if you have grown up poor”
Croatian playwright Espi Tomičić talks about gender and dramaturgy, the performance of masculinity and combining art with activism.
Blerta Neziraj: “As a female theatre director in Kosovo, you have to fight constantly.”
Blerta Neziraj, one of Kosovo’s leading theatre directors, talks about international collaboration and the challenges of working as a female theatre director in the country.
Nicoleta Esinencu: On making enemies and creating communities
Moldovan playwright and director Nicoleta Esinencu talks about Symphony of Progress, her new production for Berlin’s HAU and Teatru-Spalatorie, her independent theatre in Chisinau.
Andras Dömötör: “We have to steal back our nationality”
Andras Dömötör talks about his new production of Karpatenflecken, for Deutsches Theater, the need to reclaim the idea of nationality from the nationalists and whether it is possible to have true freedom of artistic expression in Orban’s Hungary
Belarus Free Theatre: “We are stronger than a dictatorship”
After almost 17 years of making work underground, Belarus Free Theatre has been forced to leave their home country because it was no longer safe. Tom Mustroph spoke to co-director Natalia Kaliada and company manager Svetlana Sugako about the reasons they felt it necessary to escape – and their future plans.
Mateja Koležnik: “Art is a tool to open people’s minds”
Mateja Koležnik’s production of The Crucible (Hexenjagd) is currently being presented by the Berliner Ensemble. Tom Mustroph talks to the director about the political climate in Slovenia and why we now live in the digital Middle Ages.
Haris Pašović: “Europe today is a Europe of inequality”
It has been 30 years since renowned director Haris Pašović last worked in Belgrade. Borisav Matić speaks to him about his long and eventful career.
Adrian Morina: “I hope Kosovo can become more open-minded towards artists.”
Adrian Morina is an actor and part of the ensemble at Kosovo’s national theatre, Teatri Kombëtar, where until recently he was its acting artistic director. Verity Healey talks to him about his career and Kosovo’s theatre scene a year later into the pandemic.