Teatar u ratnom Sarajevu 1992-1995. - Svjedočanstva

opsadom pokazao je koliko umjetnost u teškim vremenima znači svakome čovjeku i koliko mu može pomoći da izdrži nemoguće. Mi smo imali knjigu utisaka kazališnih predstava tijekom rata u kojoj je jedna gledateljica zapisala: “Hvala vam što mi niste dali da poludim”. Mislim da je u tom smislu teatar učinio strašno mnogo kao ljekovitost, kao nešto što je bilo istinsko sklonište te kako je u stvari ta duhovnost proradila i rekla: “Ne možete nam to uništiti”. Teatar je bio utočište za dušu. Oplemenjivao je naše živote. Knjiga Davora Diklića je neprocjenjive vrijednosti jer bilježi autentična svjedočanstva aktera teatarske scene u ratnim godinama, kao teatrološki zapis koji može snagom riječi rekonstruisati atmosferu građanskog i umjetničkog otpora ratnim razaranjima Sarajeva u periodu od 1992-1995. Posebno smo ponosni što Festival MESS kao izdavač ima priliku ovu knjigu publicirati na engleskom jeziku, zato što je fenomen “teatra pod opsadom” u Sarajevu postao predmet ozbiljnih naučnih studija kojim će ova knjiga biti nezaobilazna literatura. Pažljiv izbor sugovornika, od umjetnika, naučnika do gledatelja ovu knjigu čini dojmljivim iskazom jer svjedoči mudro I vjerodostojno, bez patetike i gorčine, iskustveno i emocionalno. Knjiga daje značaj kritičkom i revolucionarnom kazalištu tog ratnog vremena kada etički kontekst umjetnosti postaje borba za opće dobro. Teatar je pobjedio smrt i barbarsku politiku ne samo brojkama odigranih premijera i repriza, već izuzetnom kreativnošću koja je izazovu smrti suprostavljala teatar kao igru života. Dramske replike kosmopolitskog repertoara su odjekivale sa sarajevskih scena u estetski promišljenim redateljskim konceptima, sa jasnom umjetničkom intencijom da se uhvati supstanca života koja predstavlja Sarajevo tih godina: smijeh i plač, mudrost i tuga, čovjek i spoznaja. Kreirala se paralelna stvarnost koja je čuvala dušu Sarajlija da se ne kontaminira mržnjom, da se ne padne u samosažaljenje i status žrtve. Razgovori u ovoj knjizi nas uče koliko je ratno kazalište bilo prostor slobode, jer kada je bilo opkoljeno, mi smo unutar teatra bili oslobođeni i kao ljudi i kao umjetnici. Malo je tako časnih stranica naše kolektivne memorije u kojoj su ljudi bili spremni žrtvovati se za slobodu kao što su to činili kazališni stvaraoci, ali i publika koja je punila sale iz dana u dan čineći teatar urbanim ritualom otpora fašizmu.
Dino Mustafić, reditelj
(Pogovor drugom, obnovljenom izdanju)

URBAN RITUAL OF RESISTANCE TO FASCISM
During the siege of Sarajevo, which lasted 1,425 days and became the longest in modern history, the cultural life of the besieged city engendered perhaps the most avant-garde theatre scene in former Yugoslavia. Under the force of the blow it was trying to survive, Sarajevo tried to preserve its identity and its existence by defending itself from aggression, from images of destruction and violence. It is easy to show that Sarajevo defended itself with culture too, taking into account that during that time 3,102 works of art happened, along with 48 concerts and more than 170 exhibitions. 182 premieres were staged at theatres in Sarajevo, seen by more than half a million of its resident. Theatre under siege showed how much art means to every individual in difficult times and how much it can help endure the impossible. We had a book of impressions for the shows during the war, and one viewer wrote: „Thank you for not letting me go insane”. I think that in that sense, theatre did so very much in terms of being medicinal and providing a true sanctuary; spirituality came into action and said: „You can’t destroy this”. Theatre was a sanctuary for the soul. It ennobled our lives. The book by Davor Diklić is of immense value because it recorded authentic testimonies by people in theatre during the years of war, as a piece of theatre writing that can use the force of words to reconstruct the atmosphere of civic and artistic resistance to wartime destruction of Sarajevo in the period 1992-1995. We are particularly proud that the MESS Festival has an opportunity to publish this book in English, because the phenomenon of „theatre under siege” in Sarajevo has become the subject of serious scholarly studies, which will clearly benefit from this book. A careful selection of interlocutors, from artists and scientists to members of the audience, makes this book an impressive statement, because it testifies wisely and credibly, with no pathetic bitterness, with experience and emotions. The book also gives credence to the critical and revolutionary theatre of the times of war, when the ethical context of art becomes a struggle for the general good. Theatre won against death and barbaric policies, not only in the numbers of premieres and reruns, but also in the extraordinary creativity that placed theatre as the play of life against the challenge of death. Dramatic cues of cosmopolitan repertoire echoed from the stages of Sarajevo, in aesthetically conceived directorial concepts, with a clear artistic intention to catch the substance of life that was Sarajevo itself during those years: laughter and tears, wisdom and sorrow, human beings and cognition. A parallel reality was created, that protected the souls of Sarajevans against contamination by hatred, against falling into the trap of self-pity and victimization. Conversations in this book teach us how much wartime theatre was a true space of freedom, because under a siege, we were free inside the theatre, both as human beings and as artists. There are very few pages of our collective memory of such superb honour, with people willing to sacrifice themselves for freedom the way theatre professionals did, but also the way the audiences did, filling the theatres day after day, making theatre a true urban ritual of resistance to Fascisms.
Dino Mustafić, Director