Will You Ever Be Happy Again? in Tilburg

The performance "Will You Ever Be Happy Again?" on "70 jaar na Kristallnacht Festival".

Date: 6 November
Place: Theater NWE Vorst, Tilburg, The Netherlands

Will You Ever Be Happy Again? Dutch tour

After the international premiere during the BITEF Festival in Belgrade, as a part of the special program of the 42nd BITEF festival "TRUTH IN THEATRE", "Will You Ever Be Happy Again?" has it’s Dutch premiere at Hetveem Theatre, on Thursday 23rd of October. This performance was preceded by the Hetveem Research project culminating in the public presentation at Hetveem Theater in March 2008.

Dates: 23 October (Dutch premiere + afterpary DJ’s Sinisa Mitrovic and Vladimir Tupanjac with their eclectic electric & bastard disco & special guests)
24 October(with debate moderated by dr.Dragan Klaic)
25 October at 20.30
26 October at 16.00
Place: Hetveem Theater, Amsterdam
www.hetveemtheater.nl/makers
Language: Serbian and German spoken, Thu 23 and Fri 24 Oct Dutch subtitles, Sat 25 and Sun 26 Oct English subtitles.

further dates: 6 Nov 20.00 uur Kristallnachtremembrance De NWE Vorst, Tilburg (NL)

The interview "Voetbalvreugde en oorlogsherinneringen" by Laura Karreman you can read in Dutch at http://www.hetveemtheater.nl/content/interviewsanjamitrovic.html

Will You Ever Be Happy Again?

“Are we ever going to be happy again?,” the German population asked themselves at the end of the Second World War. A significant part of the Serbian population is facing the same question in the wake of the new millennium. The Germans called that moment "hour zero", to symbolize their desire for a fresh start. But this appeared to be an illusion, because one can’t escape one’s own history; one can only hope to survive it.
"Will You Ever Be Happy Again?" is a piece for one Serbian and one German performer. Developed around authentic autobiographical accounts of its performers, "Will You Ever Be Happy Again?" employs documentary strategies to explore how nationality influences one’s personal identity. This issue has been acutely pertinent to both Serbia and Germany, which, at different points in their national histories, have been perceived in negative terms within the international community. "Will You Ever Be Happy Again?" is structured as a succession of performative situations, based, amongst others, on childhood games, primary school classes and sporting events. The performers' personal and collective memories outline the narratives of good vs. bad, of victim vs. criminal, and how these distinctions can easily be turned upside down. The German performer relates his family memories, the period after the Second World War and the Cold War era. The Serbian performer reflects on her childhood in the 1980s, the ethnic conflicts and disintegration of Former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, and the recent experience of becoming a Dutch citizen. Counter–pointing and mirroring each other’s cultural and historical backgrounds, they attempt to approach the problem of self–representation, the way one looks at the other, and the urge to see oneself through the eyes of another.

"Will You Ever Be Happy Again?" is poised between documentary material and its theatrical interpretation. Shifting from a straightforward address to allusion to quotation, and relying on an oblique exploitation of historical images and poetic expressions, the work swings from research to a ritual game that creates imaginary parallels between the two countries, repeating History just like History always seems to repeat itself.

Concept and direction: Sanja Mitrovic
Performers: Jochen Stechmann, Sanja Mitrovic
Dramaturgy: Felix Ritter
Light design: Erik Gramberg
Sound design: Vladimir Rakic
Costume design: Dejan Dosljak
Artistic advisor: Vladimir Tupanjac
Stills photography: Sjoerd Kelderman

Co-produced by: CZKD, Beograd http://www.czkd.org/aktuelno.php?lang=en and Het Veem, Amsterdam http://www.hetveemtheater.nl/eng/frames.php?frame=dates

Supported by: BITEF Festival (http://www.bitef.rs/en/festival/predstava.php?pid=16) and Pact Zollverein, Essen
Many thanks to: Shady Lane Productions, Glasgow

Performance WILL YOU EVER BE HAPPY AGAIN? is a part of the COMMUNITY OF MEMORY project produced by Center for Cultural Decontamination and supported by Erste Foundation, Ministry of Culture Republic of Serbia, Belgrade City Council – Department for Culture and Swiss Embassy in Belgrade.


Dates: 26 (premiere at BITEF festival, with aftertalk)
27 September BITEF Festival at 18.00, CZKD (Center for Cultural Decontamination), Belgrade www.bitef.rs

27 September - round table discussion "Truth in Theatre". http://www.bitef.rs/en/festival/programi.php?pid=3

reprise: 29,30 September at 20.00 in CZKD, Belgrade - www.czkd.org

e-mail address: willyoueverbehappyagain@gmail.com

Residency in Pact Zollverein

PACT Zollverein runs a residency programme, awarded twice yearly by a jury, for the development and realisation of projects and productions, which is open to professional artists from Germany and abroad, working in the fields of dance, performance or media art.

August 2008: artist in residence, three weeks in Pact. In the first week the whole team of "Will You Ever Be Happy Again?" was there as well, working intensively on the preparations for Belgrade premiere.

Team: Jochen Stechmann, Felix Ritter, Vladimir Rakic, Erik Gramberg, Dejan Dosljak, Sanja Mitrovic

BOOKS ONCE READ MAKE A GOOD BULLET PROOFING by SANJA MITROVIC

"Books once read make a good bullet proofing" explores our ideals and beliefs, with all their inherent contradictions and paradoxes. It is inspired by the butt-end of the protest movements of the mid ‘70s, in particular the kidnapping of Patty Hearst by the radical political organization the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA).

The performance brings together pre–recorded video material and live action. By reproducing the original statements of the revolutionary group and its victim, the performance takes the shape of a peculiar “terrorist karaoke.”

While a group of thirteen year olds act out elements of the Patty Hearst story, adults recorded on video seem to be attempting to learn their “roles.” The combination of the children’s unaffected performances and the political statements they are re–enacting brings about an uneasy tension through which our own preconceptions are questioned.

concept, direction Sanja Mitrovic
dramaturgy Desiree Delauney
sound designer Vlada Rakic
performers Kiefer Brink, Carlotte Dessauvagie, Charlie de Graaf, Christel Havers, Dolf van Langelaar, Petra van Leeuwen, Annick van Oosten, Emily Yakobi, Sanja Mitrovic

Gasthuis production, 2007.

For more information visit: http://www.theatergasthuis.nl/default.asp?path=y42o62eo&pc=0607_BOOKS