The play "Presence of Absence" is part of the "Power of Memory" project, which deals with post-traumatic memory, specifically the memory kept by family members, which refers to missing persons from their immediate environment. Their disappearances are tragic events for individuals and families who are left in the dark and the only thing they have left is their memory and hope for resolution. During the resolution process, which takes time, memory darkens and is erased along with historical truths that are also erased. Deep wounds caused by disappearances continue to undermine relationships between groups and peoples, sometimes decades after such disappearances, and prevent society from embarking on a path of healing. [2013]
Art, especially theater art, is able to record and revive those efforts, through the living word and presence on stage. The play "The Presence of Absence" deals with the themes of how to create a place of memory, what it is that can record absence, how not to repeat the horror that happened, but to create something that allows life to continue, on a healthier level, while reminding that there are those who are responsible for that tragic situation, who are still unpunished.
Our goal is to empower women and their families who have gone through the trauma of losing loved ones and underline their role in overcoming the trauma, as well as to offer theater as a tool for transforming difficult memories and opening dialogue in the process of dealing with the past and building peace in the region.
Authentic confessions were used in the play: Samra Alić, Olgice Božanić, Eme Čekić, Cice Janković, Dragice Majstorović, Slavica Marinković, Beške Avdić, Ismete Dardgan, Fadile Grahić, Hahife Hasanović, Enise Hasanović, Mevludina Lupića, Šife Musicić, Ajke Selimović, Mevle Selimović, Suvade Selimović and Zarfa Suljić.
Excerpts from the books used: "The Circle of Love Against Death: Testimonies of the Mothers from Plaza del Mayo" by Matilda Melibowski; "I Remember Juliet: Voices of the Missing" Eric Stener Carlson; "One Countless Death" by Nora Strejilevic; "The Art of Truth Telling - Narrating the Authoritarian Regime" - edited by Xenia Bilby, Jo Ellen Fair, Cynthia E. Milton, Lee A. Payne; "At the height of hopelessness" - Emil Cioran; "Nemesis" by Richard Miller and original texts by DAH Theater artists.
Direction and dramaturgy: Dijana Milošević
Starring: Sanja Krsmanović Tasić and Maja Vujović
Music: Jugoslav Hadžić
Violin and compositions for violin: Nemanja Ajdačić
Recorded voices: Sanja Krsmanović Tasić, Ivana Milenović Popović, Nina Noren, Maja Vujović
Scenography: Neša ParipovićCostume: DAH Theater and Marija Marković
Lighting: Milomir Dimitrijević
Assistant director: Mladen Lukešević
Associate - consultant: Claudia Bernardi
Translation: Sanja Krsmanović Tasić
Costume design: Rajka Sokić
Organization and PR: Ivana Milenović Popović and Nataša Novaković
Photo: Una Škandro
DAH Theatre thanks:
To Goran Bubal, Džaja Hartline, Kenan Karavidić, Snežana Ljubevska, Suvada Selimović, Staša Zajović and Women in Black, Milena Todorović, Jelena Mišković, Danka Sekulović and Aleksandra Stojanović.
DAH Theater would like to especially thank:
To Lina Vušković and Klaudija Bernarda for their support, to Ivana Milenović Popović and Nina Noren for "lending" us their voices, as well as to all those who trusted us and shared their confessions.
SUPPORTED IMPLEMENTATION
