Balkans: A Short History of Crying

Belgrade, Serbia / Amsterdam, Netherlands

“Stand-up tragedy” is how the director and performer describes her solo on the phenomenology of tears and the history of personal mourning. Born in 1978 in the former Yugoslavia but later displaced to the Netherlands, Sanja Mitrovic brings humour to her commentary on such emblematic images of collective grief as Tito’s funeral in 1980, as she highlights the mechanisms we employ to deal with remembrance and death.

Credits

Concept, text, direction and performance
Sanja Mitrović
Dramaturgy
Felix Ritter, Marija Karaklajic
Stage design concept
Laurent Liefooghe
Set design realization
Douwe Hibma
Sound design
Evelien van den Broek, Vladimir Rakic
Light design
Katinka Marac
Video design
Janneke Kupfer
Research, artistic advice
Vladimir Tupanjac
Camera
Marko Stojmenov, Nadja Leuba
Voice over
Michael Jahoda
Assistant director
Guilio D’Anna, Maya van den Heuvel-Arad
English translation
Sinisa Mitrovic
Dutch translation
Sarah van Lamsweerde
Technicians
Paul Schimmel, Konstantin Leonenko
Production
Anke Wirken
Photo
Laurent Liefooghe, Stephen van Hesteren
Production
Stand Up Tall Productions (Amsterdam)
Co-production
hetveem theater (Amsterdam), Center for Cultural Decontamination (Belgrade)
Thanks
Jan Barta, Susanna Brenner, Vesna Jovanovic, Dragan Klaic, Koen Kreulen, Borka Pavicevic, Sanne van Rijn, Vesna Vesic, Beursschouwburg (Brussel), Shady Lane Productions (Berlin) and all the people that contributed with their stories, songs and tears
A "Short History Of Crying" is financially supported by
the European Cultural Foundation, Fonds Podiumkunsten Nederland, Amsterdams Fond voor de Kunst, SNS REAAL Fonds, VSB Fonds