During a workshop in Belgrade, 16 participants from France, Bulgaria, Germany, and Serbia were able to experience the power of body, movement, and voice, try new things, overcome barriers, and learn from each other. The group also worked on a collaborative performance that, through theater scenes, collages of video interviews, and paintings, invites reflection on walls, walls in the mind, and the joy of discovery.
No ‘classical’ theater
Theater doesn’t have to be about Shakespeare or learning roles written by others. The Plavo Theater in Belgrade creates theater inspired by Jerzy Grotowski and others. The focus is on the body and its expressiveness. The participants soon felt this.
For example, in this exercise: The group stood in a circle. One person went to the center and was asked to make a powerful movement and an according sound. The entire group imitated it. Each person performed three different body-sound combinations, and the group followed suit each time. Some had to overcome their fears at first. Everyone joined in. It was liberating.
The project theme was then combined with a performance of free, expansive speech. Each participant was to choose an aspect of “Walls in the mind – discover the other.” The group moved around the room, each mentally compiling his/her associations and reflections. Then Masa Jelic, actress and theater pedagogue at Plavo Theater, placed three chairs in the middle. Those who sat on them spoke in a way that captured the audience’s attention – in their own native language. The words were less important. What was important were facial expressions, gestures, posture, tone of voice, the highs and lows of the flow of speech, and its duration. During the inevitable pause for breath or brief moments of hesitation, the others had their chance. They took the floor. Everyone was convincing in its own way, and all, along with the audience, enjoyed laughing and fun.
Performance or: Variations on a Theme
Thus set in motion, the project partners presented their contributions to the joint performance, which will be publicly performed in Berlin in October 2025. The Berlin group had developed three theater scenes playing in different times: 1561, 1961, and 2061. The Bulgarians presented the group with paintings related to the project theme. The French partners gave their presentation a workshop-like character. Various images on “walls,” “walls in the mind,” and “discover the other” were displayed. The participants were asked to reflect on how their understanding of the project theme had developed from the beginning in 2023 to this workshop. What had they learned? What was important to them at the project’s start? What is it today? Everyone was asked to choose one of the images and comment on it. The statements were recorded on camera. This results in a multimedia interview collage.
And how should these very different contributions be brought together into a performance? Ideas were gathered and a script written for this purpose. The actors and dancers of the Plavo Theater will create a pattern of relationships.
Overcoming walls
The project brings people together: those who otherwise couldn’t afford to travel, and those who are (not) impaired, for example, by being unable to hear or speak. They all gave and continue to give creative expression to the project theme with their different means. It was literally in the air: the theater helped overcome one’s own inner walls. And all the inspiration provided impetus for thinking European whilst keeping people in mind.
