Besa Luci in conversation with Haris Pašović and Natasha Tripney

In 2022 we published an in-depth article on the theater landscape in Kosovo. Speaking about theater professionals’ arduous working conditions, actor Adrian Morina remarked that “Theater is a mirror of all institutions.” Whether or not theater professionals are supported reveals institutions’ understanding — or lack thereof — of this art form’s significance.. 

Theaters have always had a dynamic relationship with power structures. Their stages have served as venues for political critique, revolt and reflection. As such, they have played pivotal roles in how our democracies are shaped, questioned or refuted. Particularly in our region, theaters have pushed societies to confront subjects that might otherwise be avoided. 

We have seen plays on the wars our region has endured that have invited us to face and critically engage with the past. We have encountered plays questioning the international community’s role in our region. In a region where freedom does not extend to women, LBGTQ+ individuals and ethnic minorities, we have witnessed how theaters expose societies’ flaws. We have also viewed plays on how theaters and artists themselves should become more self-critical, more radical or more vigorous, as the Bosnian theater director Haris Pašović says in an interview published in SEEstage.

Haris is one of the guests on the podcast today. He is the director of the East West Centre Sarajevo and a professor of theater and film directing at the Performing Arts Academy in Sarajevo.

The other guest is Natasha Tripney, a writer and theater critic based in London. She is international editor at The Stage and co-founder of Exeunt [ekziwnt], a digital theater review. 

Other Talking Points is produced by Besa Luci and Aulonë Kadriu.

Music and sound mix by PUG musik.

This podcast is part of the Human Rightivism project, which is funded by the Embassy of Sweden in Prishtina, implemented by the Community Development Fund through its Human Rightivism Program. The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Embassy of Sweden in Prishtina.