“When the National Assembly becomes a bourgeois theater, all the bourgeois theaters should be turned into national assemblies.” (1968, written above the occupied Odéon Theatre)

For twenty years, the gap between the ruling parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the people who elect them has been constantly increasing. A dysfunctional system not only allows for immense abuse of power, but also encourages it. The state, together with its citizens, is sinking deeper and deeper into poverty, and the politicians remain in power through nationalist rhetoric, electoral promises, and by intimidating the citizens with “enemies” from other ethnic groups. We set out to create “The Assembly” because of the need to call for political responsibility, both the politicians and the citizens. It represents a certain cross-section of the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last twenty years. A session of the Assembly has a lot in common with theater performances: both are, ideally, public gatherings with the purpose of exchange of opinions in order to achieve a certain common goal; in other words, a polemical consideration of important issues. In the “The Assembly”, the actors portray individuals who have been chosen by citizens to “play” their representatives. Either because of the physical resemblance of the benches in an Assembly, or because of the concept, the actors and actresses are placed in the space of the Sarajevo National Theatre auditorium, while the audience is seated on the stage - the people in the audience are watching their reflection, because the ensemble of the performance embodies their legitimate representatives. On the other hand, the audience is on the stage, the area of action and decision-making.

Running time: 90 + intermission + 90

Direction:
SELMA SPAHIĆ

Cast:
MIODRAG TRIFUNOV
JASNA ORNELA BERI
ALEKSANDAR SEKSAN
SELMA ALISPAHIĆ
RIAD LJUTOVIĆ
VEDRANA SEKSAN
SLAVEN VIDAK
LEONARDO ŠARIĆ
SENAD ALIHODŽIĆ
ALBAN UKAJ
SNEŽANA ALIČ
JASENKO PAŠIĆ
ALDIN OMEROVIĆ
BORIS LER
MAJA IZETBEGOVIĆ
IGOR SKVARICA
ADNAN GORO
BENJAMIN BAJRAMOVIĆ
MERJEM ČULJEVIĆ

Opera Choir Members:
NEDIM BAŠIĆ
EDIN DAŠI
DAVOR EBNER
MIRAN KARABAŠIĆ
MAJO MARILOVIĆ
MIJO MARJANOVIĆ
ALEN MUSTAFIĆ
BRUNO PAPIŠTA
MUSTAFA SOKOLOVIĆ
MAHIR SREBRENICA

Dramaturgy, Selection and Document Processing:
BAD TRIO:
BOJANA VIDOSAVLJEVIĆ
ADNAN LUGONIĆ
DARIO BEVANDA

Stage Design:
MIRNA LER

Costume Design:
SANJA DŽEBA

Composer:
DRAŠKO ADŽIĆ

Opera Choir Chief:
DANIJEL ŽONTAR

Light Design:
OGNJEN MARTINOVIĆ

Sound Engineer:
ZDENKO BEVANDA

Stage Menager:
NIHAD KAPIĆ

Assistant Director:
BELMA JUSUFOVIĆ

Associate:
MERSAD ČULJEVIĆ

Poster Design:
GORAN LIZDEK

Photography:
FUAD FOČO