This unique ten days of events takes place December 4-14, 2025, transforming La MaMa into a home for an incredible group of Balkan artists. Tickets are $30 and $25 for students and seniors (includes fees). Ten tickets to every performance are $10 each, first-come, first-served – in advance, online only. Staged readings and video performances are free to attend. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://www.lamama.org/from-the-other-side/.

FROM THE OTHER SIDE is groundbreaking on many levels; the first time that such a broad selection of cultural activities from the Balkans will be presented in the United States. Reimagining Theater From The Balkans invites audiences to open themselves to new themes, poetics, and approaches to theatre arts, and to reconsider its political context through a different lens. The ten-day run includes two productions that offer distinct perspectives on themes of collective and individual memory, tradition and the past; three staged readings that present a selection of texts that showcase the formal and poetic qualities of contemporary drama recognized across the broader European context; archival recordings that feature important 21st-century productions by some of the region’s most prominent directors, offering a rare glimpse into significant theatrical achievements; and a round table discussion serving as a platform for dialogue on the intersections of art and politics as it is introduced in the chosen art works.

“’The Balkans’ is a political and cultural construct, a former warzone that, following the traumas of the late 20th century, entered the 21st century amid ongoing tensions. The region continues its attempt to shift into a phase of development, positioned, as always, at the crossroads of cultures – East and West, the South and the North,” said producer Beka Vučo. “It consistently longs to articulate its own identity, an identity that is inherently unstable and shaped by a multitude of factors: ethnic, religious, gender, sexual, and beyond.”

LIVE PERFORMANCES

They Are All Gone

By Doruntina Basha

Directed by Andrej Nosov

Starring: Mirjana Karanović, Svetozar Cvetković, Alban Ukaj, with voices of Maja Salkić, Davor Sabo, Kemal Rizvanović, Matea Mavrak, Hana Zrno, Sanin Milavić, Faruk Hajdarević, Alen Konjicija, Natalia Dmitrieva, Dino Hamidović

Presented by Heartefakt; Serbia, Belgrade

December 4 & 5 at 8:00 pm, 6 at 4:00 & 8:00 pm, 7 at 4:00 pm

This play examines the position of all of us in the audience—how we understand and relate to those who survived the genocide in Srebrenica. It is the artistic way of questioning and trying to understand the fates and consequences of the wars that took place across the former Yugoslavia. You will meet Sadika, a fictional character, and her family—also fictional—whom she lost and never truly had. Can people truly continue to live if we remember them? And what happens if we forget? Now, as this play is being created and performed, people in the Balkans are once again hearing similar voices—those who hate, who spread fear, and who deepen the consequences of a war that ended thirty years ago.

Things That Burn Easily

Written and Directed by Vedrana Klepica

Starring: Hrvojka Begović, Lea Jevtić, Vladimir Aleksić

Ganz Culture For Change, Zagreb, Croatia

December 11, 12, & 13. at 8:00 pm and 14 at 4:00 pm

Things That Burn Easily narrates a story about a family living on a modest piece of land affected by a catastrophe. Some of them believe that they have been wronged by irreparable injustice and that a system that will compensate for some of the consequences of it should exist. Others are skeptical and have modeled for themselves a picture of the world in which every other individual is a potential threat. The only reliable certainty comes from social and societal isolation and autonomous construction of their own systems of survival and belief. When a big new natural disaster appears on the horizon, the tragedy of it will escalate into an unbearable misunderstanding of these two principles.

STAGED READINGS

The Last Girls on Earth

Written and translated from Serbian by Maja Pelević

Directed by Alice Reagan

December 6 at 1:00 pm

Today, more than ever, our system absorbs every facet of human existence and profits from them. The Last Girlson Earth explores situations wherein even biological and emotional aspects like motherhood are marketable goods. A woman’s worth is often linked to her status as a mother, making those without children feel devalued and pressured to fulfill that role. This environment fosters the transformation of a fundamental human desire into a commodity, with children becoming a resource to own. The story begins where the womb becomes a factory and the child a luxury product. The Last Girls on Earth received an award for the best contemporary play at the biggest national theater festival in Serbia.

All Adventurous Women Do

Written by Tanja Sljivar

Directed by Tea Alagić

December 12 at 1:00 pm

All Adventurous Women Do explores the social phenomenon of seven thirteen-year-old girls who fell pregnant on a school trip. Here Šljivar gives voice to young female subjects whose speech in public space is prevented, and whose very experiences are often interpreted and processed with certain ideological points of view and from the perspective of the adult world, which does not see girls as equal social subjects. All Adventurous Women Dopremiered at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin and has been publicly read and performed in various countries, including Serbia, Germany, USA, Croatia, Austria and Italy. It has been translated into seven languages thus far.

All of a Sudden, A River

Written by Dimitrije Kokanov

Directed by Davin Brain

December 14 at 1:00 pm

Composed of three parts, All of a Sudden, a River, with its dystopian narrative, focuses on themes of colonialism, international warfare, social oppression, authoritarian regimes, the disenfranchisement of the Other, and issues of the pervasive violence within patriarchal and heteronormative societies. The play is an authentic response to Orwell’s 1984. Conceived as a space for silenced voices, this play allows its characters to speak in a way that the world can finally hear — revealing their deepest fears. In its conclusion, the author predicts a radical regression of civilization, reducing society to a distorted version of so-called “traditional” values. All of a Sudden, a Riverpremiered in Slovenia in 2022, and was later published as part of a collection of plays by the same author.

“The live performances to be shown highlight a vibrant and challenging segment of Balkan culture. However, they only represent a fraction of the broader creative landscape. FROM THE OTHER SIDE video presentations showcase significant artistic and thematic achievements that are not easily available through travel. This selection of three productions underlines the notable directors and theatres from the region,” said Vučo.

PRODUCTIONS ON VIDEO

The World and All That It Holds

Written by Aleksandar Hemon

Directed by Selma Spahić

December 5 at 1:00 pm

A refugee epic centered around a powerful love story between two Sarajevo conscripts on the frontlines during World War I, The World and What It Holds confronts us, once again, with the question of how love can survive, in what forms it manifests, and whether it is a strong enough force to keep us alive even in the most extreme circumstances. We remember history through the lens of those who have the privilege of leaving a mark and recording their memories. But what about the history of all those who do not have that privilege?

Cement Belgrade

Written by Milan Ramšak Marković

Directed by Sebastijan Horvat

December 7 at 12:30 pm

Inspired by the East German playwright Heiner Müller, Sebastijan Horvat’s production, which he developed with Milan Ramšak Marković, is set in present-day Belgrade. The relationship between trauma and memory, political dementia, as well as the conflicts inscribed in our bodies are some of the motifs that characterize this work. The play won the Mira Trailović« Grand Prix at the 54th BITEF Festival and many other awards.

Zoran Đinđić

Authorʼs Project by Oliver Frljić

December 13 at 12:30 pm

Zoran Đinđić deals with the issue of guilt and trauma in society following the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić of Serbia in 2003. This significant and brutal historical moment served as a point of departure for the artists, led by author Oliver Frljić, to question collective consciousness and the responsibility of the entire community. It also raises the issue of artistic responsibility in communicating with the audience on topics that transform and define our individual participation in the life of that very same community. Among many awards, the play won the Mira Trailović Grand Prix at the 47th BITEF Festival.

ROUND TABLE DISCUSSIONS

Opening discussion

ART/and/or/is POLITICS

December 3 at 1:00 pm

The panel discussion on the role of arts and culture in the socio-political milieu of the Balkans. The aim of the discussion is to question the position of labor in the arts, and art itself as a space of (un)freedom within oppressive social systems. What are the dangers of the instrumentalization of art for political purposes? What is the role of didacticism in theater and its potential for enlightenment in contemporary society?

Closing discussion

Theatre and Its Context

December 14 at 6:00 pm

Some of the topics to be tackled are: does everything that is written and/or performed today in the theater have to have a political/social connotation? And/or how do the political/social views of the author correspond to the context of the production?

About My Balkans

My Balkans is a not-for-profit organization from New York, established in 2020. The guiding purpose in forming My Balkans is to support and encourage people to build a better, more just, and open democratic society in the Balkans and South Eastern Europe using arts, culture, and education. Since its inception, My Balkans was oriented to projects where arts, culture, and education, as pillars of a democratic society, play an essential role in human development. These pillars are a powerful platform for tackling today’s key social challenges, due to their capacity to elicit powerful cognitive and emotional responses and to promote conflict prevention and resolution. Through very special and unique productions, co-productions, books, consultancy efforts and works with various partners and individuals in theatre and visual arts, music, literature and other artistic areas throughout the Balkans and Eastern and Central Europe, My Balkans established proven and recognized projects that create safe spaces for free expression, exchanges, regional cooperation and mutual understanding, contribute to social equality, cohesion, innovation, and change.

About La MaMa

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club is dedicated to the artist and all aspects of the theatre. La MaMa’s 64th Season, LA MAMA NOW, focuses on creating solidarity and building community, exploring ways to build connections for cross-sector coalition and invite artists, activists, organizers and community members into the creative process.

La MaMa has been honored with 30+ Obie Awards, dozens of Drama Desk, Bessie Awards, Villager Awards, the 2018 Regional Theatre Tony Award, and most recently a 2023 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Special Citation. We are a creative home to artists and resident companies from around the world, many of whom have made lasting contributions to the arts, including Blue Man Group, Bette Midler, Ping Chong, Jackie Curtis, Robert De Niro, André De Shields, Adrienne Kennedy, Cole Escola, Bridget Everett, Harvey Fierstein, Diane Lane, Charles Ludlam, Tom Eyen, Spiderwoman Theater, Tadeusz Kantor, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Meredith Monk, David and Amy Sedaris, Stephanie Hsu, Julie Taymor, Kazuo Ohno, Tom O’Horgan, Andrei Serban, Liz Swados, and Andy Warhol. La MaMa’s vision of nurturing new artists and new work from all nations, cultures, races and identities remains as strong today as it was when Ellen Stewart first opened the doors in 1961.

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