This is not a show, this is a strike, it is the name of tomorrow's member support meeting Šabac Theatre and colleagues in other theaters in Serbia who are fighting against the abuse of art and culture institutions.
The rally will be held on November 9 in Belgrade at the Center for Cultural Decontamination (CZKD), and it was initiated by the actors of the Šabac Theater who have been protesting since February 2025, when the organizer of the program Jelena Ivetic was fired after supporting student protests. This was followed by "revengeism" by the management towards the employees, premieres were cancelled, almost all performances and 80 percent of the actors did not play, the "Theatrical Spring" festival...
Daily strikes
Five days ago, actors from Šabac started daily warning strikes demanding their resignation Director Aleksandra Delić.
The title of tomorrow's meeting is derived from the title This is not a play. their independent performances documenting life in the Šabac Theater after the appointment of the current director.
At today's fifth warning strike, the employees of the Šabac Theater repeated their demands for the removal of the management and an extraordinary audit, as well as the appointment of a new management in dialogue with the employees, the Independence of that Theater Trade Union announced.
The strike was attended by a playwright and a dramatist Željko Hubač, a candidate for Student List deputy, who provides support to the employees of the Šabac Theater, as well as hundreds of other colleagues.
Discrimination
"I have to admit that when we gathered here I don't know how long ago, my colleagues from Serbian theaters on the occasion of your first protest, I was really convinced that in some normal period of time this senseless conflict would be resolved. 'Senseless' in the sense of occasion, and on the other hand 'defeating' in the sense of art," said Željko Hubač at the meeting, as reported by Sabačke novosti.
"I am here today, not only as a colleague, but also as a representative of a political option that won a convincing victory in this country by calling, first of all, for reason and respect for the law. I am still with my colleagues in front of the theater, where, as far as I understand, the 'Theatre Club' is closed, and where, when Jelena Ivetić enters the theater, a piece of paper appears that reads: 'Entrance allowed only to employees'. This, to put it mildly, turns into discrimination of the first kind," he pointed out. Hubac.
Appeal to the authorities
He appealed to the local authorities to meet with the actors who are on strike, in order to find the best solution to this dispute, and so that the theater can start working at full capacity.
"No one will feel defeated if you remove from the position of theater director a person who himself said that he 'doesn't know anything about theater' and showed that he really doesn't know anything about it. It will be a victory for the actors and art in Šabac", stated Željko Hubač.
As a possible solution, he pointed out the election of an acting director from the ensemble of this theater.
"The only normal way is to replace the director, with the appointment of a temporary acting director in consultation with the ensemble. It is a rational and economically profitable solution, that this function be performed by someone from the ensemble during the transition period, after which the city would announce a competition to which those interested could apply, in order to legally establish a normal situation in the theater," said Hubač.
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