“How to explain this to my son?”

December 15, 2018 YMI News

On December 14th, the premiere of the new Center E8 theater play directed by Vojislav Arsic “How to explain this to my son?” was held at the Youth Theater in Novi Sad in front of a full audience.

On December 14th, the premiere of the new Center E8 theater play directed by Vojislav Arsic “How to explain this to my son?” was held at the Youth Theater in Novi Sad in front of a full audience.

This theater play is about extremism, what is it, how it arises, what leads to it, what are its consequences, how much is it present in all of us, and can we imagine a world in which hatred for diversity will not be so present. Such a topic is sensitive in today’s society, and our soil has been, and will always be, convenient for the occurrence of new extremisms. That’s why the play shows personal stories, but also explains and classifies the factors of extremism theoretically. The process was done through workshops, in which we worked with young people from different backgrounds and transferred this experience into the play itself. The aim of the play is to introduce young people to all forms of this problem, to show them that being aware of their own stereotypes and prejudices, which inevitably exists in person, is the first step in accepting the one who is different.

Young actors Dejan Maksimović, Ema Muratović, Jelena Simić and Rade Maričić, discuss in front of the audience about the types of extremism and causes that lead to it, citing personal examples from life, as well as examples that we all know. Trying to touch on all types of extreme behavior throughout the show, the actors look back at those who are “on the other side”, people who are lulled in their lives or those who are overwhelmed with mere survival, and people who do not even understand what is happening around them and what their role is in all of this.

Dejan Maksimović, a young actor, made his impressions of the work: “Apart from being my first professional role, this was a completely new process and a new type of theater with which I met. The very aesthetics of the play was the opposite of what I was used to. The process was a long, interactive workshop type, we worked with high school students in Novi Sad and we had open rehearsals and workshops in three towns in the south of Serbia, which meant a lot to us as a feedback from the audience. “

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Although before working on this play he thought he knew a lot about extremism, he says that during the process he learned a lot: “During my work I realized how wide the topic is and how difficult it is to define, to map and to determine. That might be the major part of our process, to perceive extremism from many sides, to see the victim, to see the extremist, to find the reasons why someone becomes an extremist and split it into these three main groups of political, religious and ethnic.”

In the following year, there will be more performances of “How to explain this to my son?” at the Youth Theater, as well as the premiere in Belgrade

Supported by: CARE International Balkans, Austrian Development Agency, OAK Foundation, US Embassy in Serbia, Cultural Center LAB, Youth Capital of Europe 2019 – OPENS, Youth Office Novi Sad