Prima facie is a new play directed by Anja Suša, this year's winner of the "Mira Trailović" award given by the Bitef festival, of which she was a selector for ten years, until she went to Sweden to teach directing to the students of the University of Arts there, and from there she directs in Europe and sometimes in Belgrade . A performance
Jeanne for which she received the Bitef award, is a Swedish production.
Preview Prima facie will be at Bitef Theater next Thursday. It is a play by the Australian writer Susie Miller, a former lawyer, rated as the most significant theater event in New York and London last year, created with the aim of potentially changing the perspective of looking at cases of sexual abuse in the long term. There is one participant - Maša Dakić.
"WEATHER" Why Prima facie, what to expect at the premiere? It was created on the basis of practice, one would say based on a true story? Is this a docudrama?
ANJA SUŠA: This is not a documentary drama, but a dramatic text inspired by the theme of sexual violence against women and the inadequate response of the justice system in prosecuting the perpetrators. This is a text that deals with the dissonant relationship between law and justice, which is rarely achievable in cases of sexual violence, especially in today's Serbia where the statistics on violence against women and femicide are, to put it mildly, devastating.
And where do I come from in this project? I am here thanks to the incredible persistence of Maša Dakić who, having seen the play on Broadway, found the text, acquired the copyright and then was so determined to convince me to direct this play even though at the time she invited me I did not have a single day off and thought I know that this will be completely impossible. Then we found ourselves in Belgrade during the summer break and slowly started working, so that the whole process would be completed during the last two weeks of December when I had some free time to finish the play. A very unusual, interrupted creative process, which was both intense due to the lack of time, but also very inspiring due to the opportunity to work again with Masha, who is one of my favorite actresses. Since neither she nor I live in Serbia, the challenge was all the greater, just like the satisfaction that, in the end, we managed to implement everything. Although this is a monologue, the production itself goes beyond the scope of the so-called. small project, first of all thanks to the team of wonderful collaborators: costume designer Maja Mirković, set designer Marija Mitrić, Damjan Kecojević who did the stage movement and Ade Humonen, the sound designer.
Based on the press material, one gets the impression that Prima facie is not a common play given that it has "a higher goal to inform, warnings and potentially change the perspective of viewing cases of sexual abuse in the long term". What makes it different from the plays we know?
As I said before - it is a crucial topic, which the theater rarely deals with. In the case of this text, the whole problem is very precisely analyzed from the perspective of the judiciary, which is very interesting because the victim is a lawyer who herself spent a good part of her career defending perpetrators of sexual violence, or, as she puts it: believing in the justice system. When she herself finds herself in the role of a victim, she becomes aware of the fact that the laws were written by men and that neither the justice system nor society is sensitized to truly see and hear the victims, who are most often stigmatized and retraumatized by the endless dehumanizing legal procedures that follow the act of violence and which they reproduce the act of violence again and again.
In the theatrical sense, this is, one could say, a classic performance based on a dramatic text. There are no particular breakthroughs in terms of form - I just tried to tell the story so that everyone can understand it and to create a space for Masha where she will feel good.
Are you, this show and you, gave the theater a role that belongs to other institutions? Why is it more suitable than e.g. tribune where influential and authoritative names would speak? What power, in this particular case, has an actor?
Regardless of the actions of other institutions, which are more or less successful, I have always believed that the theater has a duty or at least a choice to talk about topics that are important to society. Generally speaking, I have never been too interested in a theater that consciously deprives itself of this possibility. I think it's enough to say that this play treats a neuralgic social issue through theatrical means. And I am grateful for the privilege of being in a position to use the power of stage language to say something affirming the theater as a place of social meeting and ritualization of the community and its acute problems.
This is not a judgmental play, but it indicates the changes that are waiting to happen it is written in the press material. What are the changes??
For example, it would be a big change for me to change the routines in processing cases of sexual violence and violence against women and other disenfranchised social groups in the dominantly patriarchal Serbian society. Anyone who has ever asked the dreaded question, "Why didn't she report right away?" should see this play. I don't know, for example, why accused sexual predators get so much space in our media, which automatically puts women who are victims of violence in the position of having to defend themselves not only in court, but also in a public space that resembles a circus arena. A good part of our society still believes, even if secretly, that a woman who has experienced some form of sexual violence is herself responsible. That is simply unacceptable.
In Serbia, sexual abuse is an extremely topical issue, but one has the impression that society does not consider it problematic. Too, considering that the viewer chooses the show according to his interest, it seems that there is no fear that your performance will be misunderstood by those who will see it. So that it could reach those for whom it is intended?
The play is intended for everyone, for the whole society, and although the reach of theater art is limited, I am sure that the play will reach those for whom it is intended.
Your play #Jeanne which was shown in Belgrade at the Bitef festival in October, she spoke, to mention only one of her topics, about the apathy of the middle class that holds back the youth. In Serbia, this phenomenon is very visible and is considered one of the reasons why changes are bypassing this society. It seemed that the tragedies of May would change that passivity, ali...
Alas, I think I used up all the comments a long time ago. I don't know what else I can say as a person for whom the most productive part of my life, from the age of 18 to 50, as far as I am now, was spent under Milosevic and Vučić, minus a few years of hope for democracy in the early 2000s. I really have nothing to add. I know how tired I am of the same people on the political scene and I understand anyone who shares that sentiment. Besides, I haven't lived in Serbia for years and I'm observing it from a distance, which is, in a way, even worse because all the deformations of Serbian society are even more clearly visible. And what I see defeats and discourages me. I admire anyone who has the strength to take to the streets for the same reason for three decades. Now I can freely say that I do not believe that I will live to see the day when Serbian institutions will be truly autonomous and when we will trust them enough that we no longer have to seek justice on the street, when society will be less burdened by corruption and nepotism at all levels. This is, at the same time, a very complicated political moment at the global level, with a lot of extremism and a great increase in populist tendencies. I am afraid that Serbia, in that context, has become insufficiently important in the international arena. No one cares about us anymore, which means that we are left to ourselves and we will be as good as we are able to influence the existing circumstances.
How Sweden views events in Serbia, on May and the elections? Here, the media creates the image that Europe is dealing with Serbia, as it seems to you? Are there any of you?, for example at university, asked something on that topic?
As I said, no one has dealt with us for a long time. Here and there, news and important events like the terrible events in May are reported, but not much more than that. Unfortunately, we are currently not as important as we believe we are, and that is one of the sad misconceptions of Serbian politics and society.
Prima facie is your first performance after many years on the Belgrade stage. Why you too, like your other colleagues, you don't direct in Serbia and abroad? In an interview you said that you went to Sweden because you were given the opportunity to do your job normally. What exactly does that mean?, what they have that we don't have? And if they offered you the conditions you need here, would you come back?
This is not my first performance in Belgrade after many years. Two years ago, I also directed a play at the Bitef Theater Address space a few messages. It was my first performance after almost 10 years. This project, however, is somewhat different because it is a private initiative of Maša Dakić to bring this multiple award-winning and currently very current text to Belgrade. This project, production-wise, has nothing to do with theater institutions, and in that sense, nothing has changed for me when it comes to my theater status in Serbia - it was not the theater that invited me, but Maša. I no longer exist in the Serbian theater context and I accepted that fact quite easily because I have the possibility to do my work in other places, which is wonderful. It's also wonderful that I can work at home occasionally, even if only every ten years. Yes, Sweden provided me with a normal life and the possibility of professional continuity that I never had in Serbia, to which I gave my most productive years and a lot of energy, believing with all my heart that change is possible. The possibility of a normal, dignified life, above all for my child, is reason enough for me to feel better in Sweden, at least at the moment. Why I am no longer in Serbia is not a question for me. There is exactly as much of me as the Serbian theater needs me. And how much I need it. As for coming back, I don't think about it, just like I never thought about leaving. I only know that Serbia as it is today is not a place where I want to live unless I really have to. But I never stop hoping that it will happen one day.
