Since it was announced that 59. Bitef to be held from September 14 to 20 and that there will be seven plays, there have been several changes. The professional and media public sense that there will be more, and that this year there will be no Bitef.
Namely, since June 26, when the media received the Program with the titles of the seven selected plays for the 59th Bitef i Reč by e-mail coach Spasoja Ž. Milovanović, some authors told "Danas" that they were against participation, and Bitef confirmed that Audition, the play of the Portuguese company Theater Prague canceled its arrival.
They all state the same reason: solidarity with artists and cultural workers in Serbia who, as they state, are suffering from political pressure. They are also reacting to last year's scandal caused by the political censorship of the Swiss director Milo Rau.
Selector of the 59th Bitefa and chairman of the Board Spasoje Ž. Marković did not answer our calls, so we only have unofficial information about the current changes to this year's program and the fate of this year's Bitef.
Without two performances
According to that information, the official letter that they will not come to Bitef was sent by two and not just one play: the one mentioned Audition of the Portuguese company Teatro Praga i Ankh's, a play based on the text by Žiga Divjak and Katarina Morano, directed by Žiga Divjak and produced by the Slovenian National Theater in Nova Gorica.
Those two performances were, as we unofficially learn, replaced by performances from Georgia and Turkey. The show from Georgia has confirmed its arrival, and the show from Turkey is expected to do the same.
We were also told that holding this year's Bitef is not and will not be in doubt.
Two other dismissals preceded this.
Two more should be added to this list of plays that canceled their participation, which did so as soon as it was suggested to them to come to Belgrade. They are the British-German Gob Squad, and the show Conqueror Youth Theater from Ljubljana. Director Sebastijan Horvat and playwright Milan Ramšak Marković said in a joint statement to "Danas" that their decision is an act of solidarity with artists in Serbia who are exposed to political pressure, but also with students, choirs and citizens who are protesting.
Photo: BDP"Black Gold"
Director Oliver Frljić previously told "Danas" that he does not want to play Crno zlato which he directed at the Belgrade Drama Theater, serves as an alibi for censorship. However, Crno zlato is still on the list of plays to be shown at Bitef.
By the way, that list has not yet been updated and adapted to new changes.
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