Sarajevo Theatre Showcase

September 11–14, 2026
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Selection Committee Narrative

The International Selection Committee for the second edition of the Sarajevo Theatre Showcase 2026 has completed its review of the shortlist of productions prepared through the regional pre-selection process and decided which theatre works will be invited to perform in Sarajevo during the Showcase. Over a period of slightly less than three weeks, the three of us individually reviewed the 17 productions submitted to us on video on May 17. On June 3, we met for a detailed discussion in order to make the final selection of five productions and one reserve production.

We faced a rather challenging task, but reached a unanimous decision. Although we come from different backgrounds and cultures within the professional theatre world, our deliberations, criteria, and values were closely aligned. Our conversation was inspiring and considerate, and our judgements complemented one another, drawing on our different experiences, perspectives, and areas of expertise. We strongly believe that all the selected productions have their raison d’être within this year’s Showcase due to their artistic form, aesthetic significance, conceptual approach, and innovation. They fully correspond to the four dimensions presented to us: Artistic Excellence, International Programmability, Mobility & Feasibility, and Program Contribution.

We also stand firmly behind our decision because of the uniqueness and diversity of the artistic languages used by the selected productions to address urgent global issues in specific, vital, and contemporary ways within the context of present-day theatre in South-Eastern Europe. We have not ranked the productions in any way, but present them here with a brief explanation in the order in which they appeared in the matrix we worked with.

The Art of Living: The Act of Killing

Slovensko Mladinsko Gledališče / Slovenian Youth Theatre
Ljubljana, Slovenia

• Thematic areas: Social relations and power structures; gender and feminist perspectives
• Artistic approach descriptors: Socially engaged theatre; documentary/research-based practice

This production is refreshing, intelligent, raw, funny, and surprising. Its approach to the subject is clear without ever becoming moralizing or self-satisfied. The performers’ relationship to the material, the treatment of gendered and sexual violence, and the production’s engagement with its regional context and feminist perspective give it a clear form and make it relevant to both local and international audiences.

The production deals with gendered and sexual violence without aestheticizing or simplifying it, and without using suffering as an emotional shortcut. The balance between humor and gravity is particularly convincing, allowing for lightness without becoming superficial and for emotion without slipping into sentimentality.

Rooted in its regional context, the production develops a sharp contemporary feminist perspective without exoticizing the Balkans or positioning the region as being in need of external correction. It is socially engaged theatre with a clear form, a strong artistic language, and an international relevance that comes not only from its subject matter, but also from the convincing theatrical form it finds for it.

I, David

Maska and the Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film and Television
Ljubljana, Slovenia

• Thematic area: Identity and belonging
• Artistic approach descriptors: Emerging voices; documentary/research-based practice

This is a strong production, with a clear artistic language, carefully structured storytelling, and exceptional execution by the performers. Its distinctive aesthetic, technical precision, and contemporary relevance make it a persuasive and memorable experience.

Through three different narrative forms following Reimer’s biography, the production reflects on the violence of a rigid binary gender system in a careful and compelling way. At the same time, its connection to current debates around gender identity and gender-affirming care requires some nuance, since Reimer’s biography emerges from a specific historical context of non-consensual medical intervention.

This does not diminish the artistic strength of the production, but it is an important distinction to keep in mind. It is a brave and artistically convincing work that stays with you and deserves to be shared with an international audience.

Sounds Like Pepper

Četveroruka / Four-handed
Zagreb, Croatia

• Thematic areas: Social relations and power structures; post-conflict and transitional contexts
• Artistic approach descriptors: Experimental and hybrid forms; ensemble-driven performance

Sounds Like Pepper is one of those productions that is not easy to forget. As a fully hybrid work, clearly situated within the field of conceptual artistic experimentation, it blends sound, body language, and voices into a very precise performance structure, creating unforgettable images and soundscapes.

The production has a clear aesthetic approach and confidently moves in a radical new direction, focusing on atmosphere and emotional experience while resisting any concrete narrative. It resembles a symphony, bringing together a diverse ensemble of dancers and actors and creating space for their individual artistic contributions.

Watching the production on video, particularly due to the way it was filmed, was challenging. We trust that, in vivo, the production will be more intimate and powerful. Emerging from Croatia’s rich independent scene, the production offers an artistic experience that is not often encountered and is relevant both to the region and to an international professional audience.

Short Cuts

Anton Podbevšek Theatre
Novo Mesto, Slovenia

• Thematic areas: Identity and belonging; social relations and power structures
• Artistic approach descriptors: Socially engaged theatre; experimental and hybrid forms

This work has a very distinct artistic voice. The production has an interesting and coherent stage language, and all its artistic elements contribute to building a complex theatrical world of its own.

The structure is formally surprising: the performance is built as a sequence of independent but connected scenes that slowly begin to feel like a labyrinth. It does not follow a clear narrative line, but creates meaning through images, encounters, rhythm, sound, and shifts in perspective, giving the production an enigmatic quality.

The strong directorial and choreographic approach and the exquisite performers move the piece between very concrete stage situations and something more elusive: longing, frustration, memory, social pressure, and the desire to escape, to break free.

Its emotional force comes less from direct storytelling than from the situations it creates and from watching performers who seem trapped inside roles, expectations, and desires they cannot fully control. It is relevant to both local and international audiences through its recognizable reflection on people’s daily struggles in today’s world.

Now, Suddenly I Was a Creature of Vice*

Maska
Ljubljana, Slovenia

• Thematic areas: Social relations; gender and feminist perspectives
• Artistic approach descriptors: Socially engaged theatre; documentary/research-based practice

The production approaches the internationally relevant subject of sex work with clarity, intimacy, and sobriety. It begins by making its own process visible, immediately establishing its credibility and offering a clear artistic statement.

Through a sound montage of interviews, it shifts the focus away from voyeurism or explanation and towards the act of listening. Rather than illustrating or aestheticizing the milieu, the performance creates space for voices that are often talked about but rarely actually heard.

Sober, modest, and deeply touching, the production leaves enough space for the audience’s own reflection. Its three distinct parts blend together seamlessly within a simple and coherent concept. This documentary work is not only a theatre piece, but can also be seen as a gesture of public attention. As such, Now, Suddenly I Was a Creature of Vice deserves the full attention of the region as well as of a wider international audience.

Fatal Outcome of Athletic Injuries

Moje pozorište
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Thematic areas: Social relations and power structures; gender and feminist perspectives. Intimacy & Family Dynamics
• Artistic approach descriptors: Socially engaged theatre; psychological realism

Fatal Outcome of Athletic Injuries is a direct, committed, and socially urgent production on domestic violence and coercive control. Rooted in psychological realism, it is carried by strong performances rather than formal experimentation.

The production follows how emotional dependency, insecurity, hope, fear, manipulation, psychological pressure, gaslighting, humiliation, and the erosion of self-perception can become intertwined. It does not present violence as an isolated act, but traces the gradual formation of a destructive dynamic: the red flags, the moments of denial, the repeated attempts to normalize what is happening, and the difficulty of leaving once control has taken hold.

At the same time, the production engages with a wider ethical discussion in contemporary theatre and art: how violence can be represented without simply reproducing it. The production’s value lies in its willingness to enter this difficult terrain, making visible an ethical complexity that invites discussion about violence, representation, and spectatorship. For this reason, Fatal Outcome of Athletic Injuries deserves to be shared with an international audience.

The staging brings an intimate story into a shared theatrical space, underlining that domestic violence does not happen in isolation. It places the audience in the position of witnesses, confronting them with the discomfort of observing violence, abusive behavior, and suffering from a position that offers little possibility for intervention.

The six selected productions bring together themes that are thoughtfully developed and relevant beyond the borders of the region; distinctive and bold artistic languages that are not always clearly visible in theatres across the Balkans; a diversity of artistic approaches; and numerous young voices with fresh aesthetic strength, courage, and boldness.

These six productions fully correspond to the concept of the Sarajevo Theatre Showcase as a central presentation platform of the New Theatre Market project of Creative Europe and therefore serve not as a competitive ranking of productions, but as a curated professional platform identifying works that combine strong artistic identity, clarity of artistic language, international communicability, touring feasibility, and readiness for international professional presentation.

We believe that our work has addressed the central objectives of the Sarajevo Theatre Showcase.

Hilde Guri Bohlin, Alia Luque and Beka Vučo
June 22^nd, 2026

This year, a total of 55 productions were submitted to the Showcase open call and went through the regional pre-selection process. The regional pre-selection team was composed of: Martin T. B. Thomas, Ajša Đuherić, Carlo Sccorano, Emina Kovačević Podgorčević, Jelena Kovačič, Aleksandra Lozanović, Sasho Ogenovski and Patrik Lazić.

*Due to unforeseen circumstances affecting the producing organisation, the selected production Now, Suddenly, I Was a Creature of Vice by Maska Ljubljana will unfortunately not be able to be presented at this year’s Sarajevo Theatre Showcase.