AN ANSWER WITHOUT THE QUESTION

The premier of the play named “How should I explain this to my son?” directed by Vojislav Arsić was held on 14 December at the Youth Theatre. The play deals with the topic of extremism in our society and problematizes it from the perspective of young people.

Vojislav Arsić, the director of the play believes that young people should be the target group because they are the most susceptible to changes and extreme behaviour.

“Through our work in theatre by now, we have treated the topics which we consider problematic in the society. Extremism is the topic which has not been dealt by enough in art. My goal is for young people to ask themselves numerous questions when they leave the theatre, because they can make changes significant for society”, Arsić adds.

The play contains parts of personal stories and shows extremism in three sub-groups: political, ethical and religious. The process, among other, consisted of workshops with young people whose experiences are transferred to the play itself. Four young people tried to show the audience types of extremism from personal stories and every-day situations, in the best possible way.

“Work on this play was of research nature. When we started, we knew a little about extremism and we thought that the topic was quite narrow, but the research we conducted made us see the opposite. We tried to map and narrow the concept and deal with causes and victims of extremism. During the work, we were constantly asking ourselves the question after which the play is named, but did not manage to find the answer”, Dejan Maksimović, the actor says.

The goal is to introduce young people to types of extremism and teach them fight stereotypes, prejudice and social codex. The title of the play is the question not answered by anyone yet, it is the task and something to think about for all of us.

Author: Mateja Ninković