THE HEN Directed by: Selma Spahić Text, Dramaturgy: Bojana Vidosavljević, Adnan Lugonić, Dario Bevanda (Text based on actors’ improvisations inspired by motifs from The Notebook by Ágota Kristóf) Cast: Jelena Kordić-Kuret, Filip Eldan, Nikša Eldan, Alban Ukaj Music: Draško Adžić Stage Design: Mirna Ler Costume Design: Lejla Hodžić Stage Movement: Thomas Steyaert Text Consultant: Bekim Sejranović Assistant Director: Benjamin Dizdarević Graphic design: Bojan Mustur Photography: Velija Hasanbegović Technical Manager: Damir Fazlagić Lighting Technicians: Nedim Pejdah, Nedim Kukavica Sound Technician: Sretko Vujić Stage Manager: Nurko Oprašić Helping Hands: Mevludin Džananović, Elvis Sijarić, Eldin Mršo, Samir Avdić, Mulaz Dacić Wardrobe: Hava Redžić Make-up: Sanela Ćatić Maintenance: Senija Mujak Executive Production: Belma Jusufović, Aida Mujković
The HEN Sometime at the beginning of the First World War, in a solitary shack in the middle of a war zone, abandoned twins live with her grandmother. One day, while the grandmother is at the market, the children, starved, kill the last hen. The grandmother returns home from the market with a few potatoes and an open wound on her forehead, sustained in an argument with soldiers from the local unit. Upon discovering what the twins did, she punishes them cruelly, but still gives each a piece of fried chicken. The dinner is interrupted by the arrival of a soldier who claims to have been officially tasked with monitoring the locals. A soldier from the Second World War. We begin to question the timeline of the play. The meal continues with the new guest, taking on a dimension of a game in which he sets out the rules. When one of the twins discovers that their guest has been lying to them the entire time, the soldier becomes violent, ready to use his gun if anyone gets in the way of what he had intended. While the soldier reveals his secret to them, we again question the timeline. We suddenly find ourselves in the wars of the nineties. Dinner continues, and it seems that it had lasted for a hundred years.
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SELMA SPAHIĆ Selma Spahić was born in 1986. She earned a degree in Directing from the Academy of Performing Arts. She has directed plays and held theatre workshops in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, and Great Britain. Her directing repertoire includes classics, contemporary foreign and dramas from Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as documentary plays. Her plays won multiple awards on festivals in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region, and have been a part of some of the major European festivals such as the Neue Theater Stücke aus Europa in Wiesbaden, Germany. Since 2010, she has been a curator for the Future MESS program for young directors, and since 2012, she has worked as the head of the artistic program of the International Theater Festival MESS Sarajevo.
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THE HEN Duration: 55 minutes People on stage: 4 actors Company on the road: 12 (4 actors, 5 technicians, 1 tour manager, 1 executive producer, 1 technical director) Arrival: day before the performance Set up: 8 hours (stage, light, sound) Venue recomendation: Black box / empty space Prefered stage dimensions: 10 m x 12 m (5 m hight)
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CONTACT DETAILS For more information or to book The Hen contact: Belma Jusufović (Executive Producer) Email: belma@mess.ba Mobile: +387 62 424 564 Office: +387 33 200 392
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COMPLETE THEATER PERFORMANCE LINK: https://vimeo.com/130859069 PASSWORD: festivalmess12345
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COMPLETE TECHNICAL RIDER UPON REQUEST Contact: Belma Jusufović (Executive Producer) Email: belma@mess.ba Mobile: +387 62 424 564 Office: +387 33 200 392
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SCENE MESS Scene MESS is the production department of the MESS International Theater Festival. Following numerous productions and coproductions between 1993 and 2014, MESS is now formally participating in theatrical programming, in addition to its festival activities. As a theatrical company, MESS has produced and co-produced 75 plays. It has collaborated with 59 theater houses and companies from 12 different countries. In addition, it staged plays together with the Yugoslav Drama Theater and BITEF from Belgrade, Montenegrin National Theater and Budva Theater City, &TD Theater from Zagreb, Croatian National Theater Ivan noble Zajc from Rijeka, Zagreb Youth Theater, Ex Ponto Theater from Ljubljana and Small Drama Theater of Bitola. MESS has also collaborated with some of the most renowned international theater companies, such as Glob Theater Bordeaux, Corte Sconta from Milan, De Brakke Gron from Amsterdam, and Schaubuehne am Lehniner Platz from Berlin. 336 actors and 43 directors took part in these productions and co-productions. Scene MESS is indented as a place of artistic freedom. It is a place where artists can explore new forms, question and deconstruct literary classics, write texts and host pre-premieres, make their own projects. It is perhaps, above all, a space where they can take risks, because deep inside we believe there is no progress in art without risk taking and venturing into uncharted territories. The results of which can be unpredictable and different, but never uninteresting or superficial.
the development of theater in BiH. When Scene MESS was first established, it was a utopian idea. A new theater in Sarajevo. Only a year later, Scene MESS has its monthly repertoire, currently ten plays in it, and new projects scheduled for 2016. It has chosen co-production as its mode of operation, since it allows for a creative exchange between countries and theatrical companies, but also advances culture. Only in 2015, Scene MESS worked with the Zagreb Youth Theater, BITEF Theater from Belgrade, Croatian National Theater from Mostar, National Theater of Republika Srpska from Banja Luka, Bosnian National Theater from Zenica, Heartefact Fund from Belgrade, Budva Theater City, Ulysses Theater from Brijuni, Sarajevo War Theater, Kamerni teatar ‘55 from Sarajevo, Croatian National Theater from Rijeka. Their plays have won numerous awards at BiH theater festivals, both regional and international. Scene MESS has staged plays in numerous venues throughout BiH, thanks to the hospitality of our colleagues from BiH theater houses. Scene MESS, likewise, plans to return the favor, thus creating a meeting point between regional and international collaborations – a place that exudes diversity and praises otherness.
Scene MESS aims at creating an environment in which artistic teams working on plays can be put together based on the individual sensibilities of their members. Scene MESS does not have a permanent ensemble. It does not have its team of authors either. Each play puts together a new team which allows for a greater fluidity, dynamics and innovativeness, and, at the same time, fosters
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PRODUCTIONS • THE FLOUR IN OUR VEINS Production: Sarajevo War Theater / Scene MESS Director: Boris Liješević • ANTIGONE – 2000 YEARS LATER Production: Ulysses Theater / Scene MESS / National Theater Sarajevo Director: Lenka Udovički • THE HEN Production: Scene MESS / Sarajevo War Theater Director: Selma Spahić • THIS GRAVE IS TOO SMALL FOR ME Production: Heartefact Fund / Chamber Theater ‘55 / Scene MESS / Ulysses Theater / Testament filmS Director: Dino Mustafić • THE CONCERT OF BIRDS Production: Chamber Theater ‘55 / Scene MESS Director: Aleš Kurt • MISTER PILLOW Production: Youth Theater Sarajevo / Scene MESS Director: Luca Cortina • THE SECRET OF RASPBERRY JAM Production: Sarajevo War Theater / Scene MESS / Fondation Karim Zaimović Director: Selma Spahić • IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL AND SUNNY DAY Production: Sarajevo War Theater / Scene MESS Director: Tanja Miletić Oručević • GHOSTS Production: The Heartefact Fund / Budva Theater City / Scene MESS / BITEF Theater Director: Andrej Nosov • WHAT IS EUROPE? Production: Scene MESS Director: Andras Urban
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PUBLIC INSTITUTION MES - INTERNATIONAL THEATER FESTIVAL - SCENE MESS Adress: Maršala Tita 54/I Tel: +387 33 20 03 92 Fax: +387 33 21 19 72 Email: info@mess.ba Web: www.mess.ba
Direction: Dajana Gurda, Lejla Hasanbegović, Ira Isović, Belma Jusufović, Mirna Ler, Aida Mujković, Dino Mustafić, Bojan Mustur, Selma Spahić, Mirsada Škrijelj Contact: Belma Jusufović (Exectutive Producer) Email: belma@mess.ba Mobile: +387 62 424 564 Office: +387 33 200 392
Premiere “The Hen” 5. January 2015 Sarajevo War Theater Design: Bojan Mustur Photography: Velija Hasanbegović
PUBLIC INSTITUTION MES - INTERNATIONAL THEATER FESTIVAL - SCENE MESS Adress: Maršala Tita 54/I Tel: +387 33 20 03 92 Fax: +387 33 21 19 72 Email: info@mess.ba Web: www.mess.ba
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