Documentary theater play about the remembrance of WW2, the antifascist struggle and the Holocaust in Belgrade

Invisible Monuments, a documentary play conceptualized and directed by Jelena and Milena Bogavac, co-authored by pupils of the Third Belgrade Gymnasium, premiered March 27 2015. at Bitef Theatre and since belongs to the steady repertoire of this theatre.

Current dates you can find on the website of Bitef Theatre or on fb:  https://www.facebook.com/NevidljiviSpomenici/

The Invisible Monuments is the product of several months of a research, artistic and educational process during which the pupils of the Third Belgrade Secondary School studied the history of Europe, Belgrade and their families in the Second World War. The text of the production is based on criss-crossing personal stories, historical documents, letters, testimonies and data from the book  Places of suffering and antifascist struggle in Belgrade 1941-44  edited by Rena Raedle and Milovan Pisarri. The production also owes it the subtitle:  A Manual on Reading the City . 

Although it addresses a period in history, this is not a period production. It is based on the contemporary interpretation of the memories of the Second World War and identification of the effect these events had on Belgrade, Serbia and the former Yugoslavia. Young performers speak in their own name, presenting to the audience historical facts they learned during the process as well as projecting powerful emotions of fear, sorrow and fury provoked in them by the topic. 

The Invisible Monuments is a part of the project entitled  Double Burden: Learning about National Socialism and Holocaust in Europe  initiated by Goethe Institute in Zagreb, Croatia. It is intended for secondary school pupils in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Hungary and its chief idea is a homework given to pupils to create works of art inspired by what they have learnt about national socialism and Holocaust, visits to memorials, museums and archives, all with the support of artists and cultural educators. 

Concept, direction and dramaturgy :  Jelena i Milena Bogavac 

Co-authors and actors :  Jovana Antonijević, Anđela Babović, Vanja Božić, Dušan Cvetković, Ivona Despotović, Mirko Družijanić, Selena Ivanović, Petar Jovanović, Natalia Kidišević, Jovana Koldžić, Lana Macura, Ana Memeti, Nevena Mijatović, Sofija Ostojić, Ana Stefanović, Ana Stojakov, Nina Srdić Hadži-Nešić, Manja Tomašević, Milana Tokić, Jelena Vučinić, Marko Živković 

Original music:  Attila Antal
Video:  Igor Marković
Choreography:  Rada Kovačević
Stage movement:  Zvonimir Peranić
Assistant director and diction associate:  Uroš Novović
Assistant choreographer:  Natalia Kidišević
Producer:  Jovana Janjić
Mentors and teachers at Third Belgrade Gymnasium:  Miloš Bajlovski, Biljana Bogojević, Jelena Kručičanin

Expert associates and consultants:  Rena Jeremić Raedle, Nenad Lajbenšperger, Ilija Malović, Ana Panić, Tamara Popović, Katarina Pejović, Dubravka Stojanović, Marijana Stojčić, Aleksandar Todosijević

Belgrade, March 2015. 

The theatre play was developed in the frame of Double Burden: Learning about National Socialism and Holocaust in Europe and supported by the European Union.

Realized by:  Goethe-Institut Kroatien 

Partner organisations:  Documenta – Centar za suočavanje s prošlošću (Zagreb), Forum za primenjenu istoriju (Beograd), Festival tolerancije – Festival suvremenog židovskog filma (Zagreb), Historijski muzej Bosne i Hercegovine (Sarajevo) and „Stiftung Gedenkstätten Buchenwald und Mittelbau-Dora“ (Weimar).  
Other partners:  FKVK Zaprešić, Muzej grada Koprivnice, BITEF teatar (Beograd), Muzej istorije Jugoslavije (Beograd)
Schools:  Srednja škola „Ban Josip Jelačić“ (Zaprešić), Gimnazija „Obala“ (Sarajevo), Gimnazija „Fran Galović“ (Koprivnica), Gimnazija „Lovassy-László“ (Veszprém) and Treća beogradska gimnazija (Beograd)