Studio tres pas was formed in 2023 by a group of actors in Zagreb. Nora Čulić Matošić speaks to a new Croatian theatre company who place audience engagement and education at the heart of their work.
Established in 2023, Studio tres pas differs from other theatre companies in Zagreb in that their approach has been, so far, somewhat more broad in terms of what theatre and performance can be. The Studio was found by three actors: Boris Barukčić, Ivan Pašalić and Ugo Korani (the latter two are part of the ZKM’ ensemble). Before they premiered their first play Negative last year in November, they hosted open educating workshops for theatre lovers who wanted to learn how to discuss different types of performances. The Studio has consistently shown an interest in educating and establishing future audience members. Also, as the programme varied in types of performances, it also helps building confidence for future theatre audience to engage in ‘underground’, not-so-mainstream shows such as radio-dramas and physical theatre.
Negative was described by the ensemble as a “dark visual poem that uses a non-verbal expression’ that questions how memories are made, recalled and their reliability.” It was inspired by Beckett’s pieces Without Words I and II, and was humorous but dark too. It was performed by Boris Barukčić, who took us on a train ride of his personal memories from childhood which is mostly defined by moving often around the Ex-Yu countries. Because of the lack of text and the authors; personal tendency toward free expression, the play is very open to audience’s associations while also being impressive to watch.
Nora Čulić Matošić: The name ‘Tres pas’ is catchy and layered with meanings in different languages. In Croatian, it’s a combination of words ‘pas’ for dog and an exclamation ‘tres’ signifying a banging sound of a fall on the ground. Also, you mention it is a reference to Siniša Labrović’s head that has ‘no trespassing’ tattooed on the back of it, so it covers English too. Finally, there is French meaning to in the combination of ‘tres’ as “very” and “pas” as “not” or “step”. How did you come up with the name and what do all these different meanings mean for your organization?
Studio tres pas: The name came after a series of word games. First, we saw “No trespassing” on the back of Labrović’s head in Motovun on the film festival and started thinking how “trespass” could mean three dogs in Spanish-Croatian. We were happy with the name, but a kind lady in the Ministry of Culture and Media explained that we must use a Croatian name for the organisation. So we decided to stick with the name, looked up in the dictionary, and came back with a new proposition, “tres pas”, but the kind lady read it in French, and said that could also not be accepted, which gave us a funny new perspective on our name. After proving the name is indeed Croatian, Studio tres pas was established.
NČM: In your introductory posts on social media and the Negative programme, you have a tendency to use encyclopaedic definitions of certain words, such as ‘negative’, ‘freedom’, ‘video rental’, ‘childhood’, ‘commando’ and ‘society’. Could you elaborate why do you use them? Is it a need for definition or something else?
STP: There’s no specific reason to use them. We wanted to present ourselves as a collective but also individually on the social media so we decided to continue using dictionary definitions to highlight one word. We try to have fun and slowly, we realised that everything we do comes from a place of joking, playfulness, and joy. Which brings us a certain relaxation, authenticity, and we hope, results. Sometimes we overthink, take ourselves too seriously, even pretentiously, only to remind ourselves that we’re here for joy and that our strength lies in lucidity and clowning – both on stage and in private life. Perhaps this is the answer about defining ourselves, finding a name, and ultimately – identity. We are in a constant state of search. Like how dogs sniff their surroundings, we intuitively search for joy in collective creation.
NČM: It says on one of your social media posts that you have decided to found your own independent artistic organization to use it for developing your author’s expression. I assume it’s because you didn’t find the space for it on the institutional scene or some independent spaces, right?
STP: Studying together, we loved to dream about doing our own plays. We still do. We were creative throughout our entire studies, so founding an artistic organization was a logical next step if we wanted to actually work on our ideas “from the scratch”. We don’t think that, for example, as actors we can’t express ourselves artistically in institutional theatre, but here we have the opportunity to fully create the content that we’re interested in, which is much more than just developing the author’s expression – it is being active in cultural life of our town, working as researchers, educators and promotors of music, theatre and film. Tres pas is about working with different people, combining forms of art and being available to everyone.
NČM: Is there a specific aesthetic and/or poetics you cherish and are interested in developing in your future works?
STP: Every one of us has a different taste and a right to freely explore their interests, to take initiative, others are here to support the idea and help to realise it. These projects can be diverse, both aesthetically and in content. Our conversations often revolve around theatrical clowning, the theatre of the absurd, and comedy. That’s what connected us and what always makes us happy. This year we will start three new projects, a research about lecture theatre, a research on contemporary dance in theatre for children, and a new premiere of a play about housing.
Eksperiment. Photo: Lucian Mirdita
NČM: As an emerging independent artistic organization, have you faced any issues and what are they?
STP: The biggest issue for us is capturing that initial enthusiasm and momentum around a project. Once things get started, we do everything with joy. We haven’t encountered any bureaucratic issues yet, and we hope it will stay that way.
NČM: Negativ is described as a ‘dark visual (epic) poem that uses non-verbal theatre expression to explore individual questions of hope, memories and home.’ Is this non-verbal expression one of the interests you want to develop within the studio, to bring more attention to physical theatre that isn’t based solely on dramatic text or other literal templates? If so, why? Do you feel the physical communicates differently with the audience?
STP: Yes, non-verbal expression is one of the interests we have working in theatre, but there are many more. We don’t want to limit ourselves in one aesthetic. Negativ was initiated by Boris who has been developing it for years and we all support it. If somebody comes up with the idea of making a radio-drama or a classical drama play, if it is in good taste and carries a message, we will do it. It is important to try new things in theatre today, and explore new possibilities. When the show has premiered, we knew that Negativ will continue growing, next year we will share methods and conduct an artist research “Down the Memory Lane” reflecting on the process. We tend to open our Studio and let other interested artists and non-artists experience our work.
NČM: During this year you have conducted the educational workshop programme ‘Graduated spectator’ (“diplomirani gledatelj”) that was aimed to get people interested in theatre. How did it go, are you and the ‘students’ satisfied with how it went if you got feedback? Do you plan on repeating the programme?
STP: Our “Diplomirani gledatelj” project has turned out to be a great success. Often, in conversations with people who don’t come from the world of theatre, we’ve encountered communication barriers related to our profession. They see theatre and theatrical practices as something completely foreign and unknown, and going to the theatre is a rare event for them. That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t want to go or aren’t capable of understanding theatrical art. Therefore, we decided to organise an educational workshop specifically for them. Over 8 weeks, we watched 8 plays together, and after each, we held a professionally guided discussion and analysis. We tried to bring them first-hand closer to the process of creating a play, as well as the thinking behind each one. We also focused on theatrical elements they might not normally pay attention to, like lighting, music, rhythm, and tried to introduce them to as many theatrical genres and styles as possible. The response was fantastic, and we are pleased to announce the second season of the program.
NČM: Aside from theatre, do you have projects in other media? I saw you organized live surprise concerts around Zagreb in places like parks – could you speak more on those projects?
STP: One of our members, Lucian Mirdita, continued his older project Eksperiment session under our organisation and in a new format. Together we organised three live concerts in public spaces with bands from Zagreb independent music scene. The idea was to make an immediate promotion of the bands to the public while also providing a free concert in a nice and unconventional surrounding. These concerts have been recorded and afterwards edited into sessions which were uploaded on Youtube (where you can watch them by searching for “Eksperiment session”). It is a great way of promoting and archiving the current Zagreb music scene and we are devoted to the idea of continuing it.
NČM: What are your plans for next year?
STP: We are lucky to have a great opportunity to develop and show our work in Scena Ribnjak, after being selected for a 2-year residency. We will continue our educational program “Diplomirani gledatelj”, organising and filming Eksperiment, playing and working on Negativ, and as we mentioned above, we will research lecture theatre, dance, theatre for children and youth, and make a new play in partnership with Teatro VeRRdi. Of course, if we get the money for all that jazz… if not, we will bark at the moon and do it anyway. Because it’s fun, and it can change something, at least for us.
Nora Čulić Matošić (1998) is a student of Comparative Literature (MA) at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb. She has written theatre criticism for the Croatian radio programme Theatralia and web portal Kulturpunkt.hr. Besides theatre, her interests are other forms of performing arts (particularly dance performances) and film.
