INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVAL MES The Golden Laurel Wreath for special contribution to Art and Theatre goes to EAST WEST CENTER Award for the "Best play reflecting changes in the world" goes to CLASS ENEMY at the International Theatre Festival KONTAKT 2009!! Class Enemy at Edinburgh International Festival 08 Highlights from the reviews “…shocking…” Guardian “…electrifying…” Scotsman “…ferocious…” Independent “…vivid…” Times “…staggering” New York Times “…stunning….” Evening News “…explosive…” British Theatre Guide “…powerful…” What’s On Stage “…terrific…” List “…enlightening…” Financial Times “…fiercely potent…” Herald “…subtle but significant…” Guardian “..smashing…” Strait Times (Singapore) “…a tremendous sense of aesthetics…” Business Times (Singapore) “...This updating, by Haris Pasovic, is subtle but significant… Amar Selimovic's formidable Iron is the class ringleader, yet the way he paces the room and drums his head on the desks shows a deeply damaged individual. At the heart of the play is the clash between Iron's nihilism and the humanism of Maja Zeco's Cobra who, against the odds, clings to her belief in positive action. The more it becomes apparent that "we've all been abandoned the day we were born", the more the violence escalates, leading to a gun-toting finale that would be laughably melodramatic if it were not also a symbolic reminder that there is where social breakdown leads…” Guardian “The display of sheer energy on the part of Mr. Pasovic’s cast was staggering. In almost constant motion, they flung chairs and tables and themselves around with unflagging intensity, as the ringleader, nicknamed Iron (Amar Selimovic), led a series of increasingly brutal or degrading time-killing schemes. Pretending to scorn instruction and authority, the kids of course secretly crave it. As they took turns playing at schoolteaching — sex one predictable subject, gardening a more surprising one — the yearning underneath all the harsh braggadocio came through forcefully.” New York Times “ ...…this vivid production, these vital young actors….…the kid who is most addicted to vandalism and graffiti brilliantly played by Maja Izetbegovic as a goofily aphasic and dreamily destructive teenage girl…” Times “The play started out in a British version three decades ago but has now been explosively relocated to war torn Bosnia…The energetic, young company really impress with their commitment and seemingly put limbs if not life at risk as they throw around furniture and each other, seemingly oblivious of gender.” The British Theatre Guide “Pasovic’s ‘Class Enemy’ is tour de force” Jonathan Mills, director of Edinburgh International Festival on BBC “…Pasovic's cast has ferocious vigour. As the class degenerates into crazed xenophobic rants and a bloodbath of adolescent violence, you can't help feeling Williams's grim vision was scarily prescient, regarding both Britain and the continent….” Independent “Switching the genders of some characters from Williams’ all-male originals showed adolescent sexuality as one of the few outlets available to these youths, and even the inclusion of rap sequences seemed enlightening.” Financial Times ”The girl who draws a chalk geranium on her top lives in hope of salvation, but she is fighting against a tide of nihilism that suggests this neglected generation will find solace only in religious extremism and political violence. It's a troubling warning, but if Pasovic and his company are even halfway right, this is a truth that we need to know about.” Scotland on Sunday “ It is technically stunning in terms of the timing of the fighting, the actor's creation of character and the realism of their actions. Even when Kitty and Cat break out into their hip-hop rap, it works…The individual performances are also very strong. Amar Selimovic is constantly good to watch as Iron, while Maja Zeco is mesmerising as Cobra.” Evening News “…its energy remains fiercely potent. The classmates tear chunks out of each other but, when the teacher's higher authority comes calling, they find Spartacus-like solidarity…” Herald “… the brief, electrifying sequences when Pasovic has two young Bosnian hip-hop artists set Williams's words to their own rap rhythms… the magical performances, notably from Irma Alimanovic and Maja Izetbegovic as the two most obviously vulnerable girls…”
Scotsman “The new version … is just as shocking as the original.” Guardian “…passionately acted…. this is a powerful exploration of a hugely relevant issue, whether the scene is set in Bosnia or the UK…” Whant’s On Stage “….Amar Selimovic brings a charismatic presence and a palpable sense of danger to the stage as the wired and violent Iron. Maja Zeco performs a provocative strip routine while ostensibly giving a cookery lesson as the sexy, sinuous Cobra, and Maja Izetbegovic brings a disconcerting spaced-out quality to Sky, a girl whose only pleasure in life is smashing windows….” Daily Telegraph “….Much of Williams’ text transfers surprisingly well from its original South London context to Sarajevo….some speeches being turned nicely into rap, and some terrific physical language…” The List “…the astonishing Amar Selimovic who plays hard man in chief, Iron…. For Pasovic, whose stellar career has transcended the war in his homeland, being given such a central role in the Edinburgh Festival is a crowning honour…” The Sunday Times “For over half a century, The Edinburgh International Festival has strived to achieve the highest standards in excellence in the performing arts. And this year, for the first time a play by a Bosnian theatre group was invited to take a part. And the play about a disillusionment and violence among the young people is winning the great reviews.…It is an angry play, but with a good message underneath it…” CNN Actors in the play, which recalls the drama of pupils barricading themselves into a classroom, also lived through the four-year siege in Sarajevo BBC “…If ever there was a director ideally placed to take on board International Festival director Jonathan Mills' big idea of 'artists without borders' and the changes and challenges facing Europe, then it's surely Pašovic. He has directed some of the most memorable stage shows seen in the Balkans in recent years….” Metro “…Brave art. In all his work, in other words, Pasovic is mainly concerned with the idea of freedom, and the role of theatre both in freeing the spirit and imagination, and in encouraging people to debate what freedom truly is….” The Scotsman “…It is upon this play that Haris Pasovic, artistic director of East West Theatre Company, has based what is set to be one of the theatrical highlights of the 2008 Edinburgh International Festival…” The Evening News “The East West Theatre Company is an exciting and vibrant young voice in Europe.” Joanna Baker, Managing Director, Edinburgh International Festival “…A smashing sold-out show…Edgy and engaging. Misbehavior never looked so good. Amar Selimovic as Iron is a triumph…” The Strait Times, Singapore “…the direction brings out the best in the contrasts between the performers and shows a tremendous sense of aesthetics….” Business Times “….Possibly the best play in a decade of my theatre reviewing…” The Flying Inkpot, Singapore “…the world in the classroom…what you get is a gripping examination of human responses to the brutality of silence, demonstrating what happens when a minority is ignored by society at large…” Business Times “Lord of the Flies meets Animal Farm in this production filled with pitch-perfect tension brilliantly captured by a young cast whose own childhood school days were abruptly disrupted by war. Based on research amongst disillusioned youths coping with dysfunctional families in post-war Bosnia, Pašoviæ’s Class Enemy paints an unnerving dystopia, sounding a clarion call for change in a world where violence in schools and campuses increasingly vie for news headlines.” 2008 Singapoe Arts Festival web-site. Highlights from the reviews May/June 08 Tour “CLASS ENEMY” at Singapore Arts Festival 2008 The Straits Times: "... this smashing sold-out show..." "This production was one classroom on fire..." "..uncompromising to the end...” "The characterization was nuanced and complex, fleshed out by talented and disciplined performers. Iron, played by Amar Selimovic was a triumph..." "Edgy and engaging: Misbehavior never looked so good." The Flying Inkpot - ***** (5 stars of 5) www.inkpot.com/theatre "...the invigorating beauty and devastating pathos..." "Class Enemy by East West Theatre Company ..is quite possibly the best play I have seen in nearly a decade of theatre reviewing " "...these students speak for everyone who is downtrodden, who is waiting for a savior that will never come..." More reviews to come.. BLOGS: blue-markers.livejournal.com "...Nothing short of awesome. 105 minutes didn't feel like it; rather, it seemed too short a time. I was enjoying the whole play from start till end, never faltering from being ultimately impressed." tatahiky.wordpress.com "Class Enemy is simply unforgettable" ephraim.blogspot.com "...I was particularly moved by the actress who played Sky - Maja Izetbegovic....In fact all the lectures struck a chord in my heart..." Ljubljana, Slovenia Delo "....shocking, intensive, vulnerable..." "...the actors...have brought to us some profoundly motivated cruelty and sensitivity which we have been short of." Belgrade, Serbia Glas javnosti "...dramatic and emotionally charged..." Novi Sad, Serbia Dnevnik "...Class Enemy is more than welcome..." HAMLET Director Haris Pasovic has transformed Hamlet into a Muslim hero struggling to survive in an ancient Islamic superpower. "Something is rotten in the state of Turkey," Pasovic says."I learned a lot about Ottoman court, and it was very Shakespearian in essence. Stories like the one in Hamlet did happen several times in the 500 years of Ottoman history." Pasovic wants his production, which is showing at the Bosnian National Theatre in Sarajevo, to speak to both Muslim communities and the wider world. "Every time has its own Hamlet," he says. "It's palpable today that, as Shakespeare said, the time is out of joint. We live in a fractured world." The Pasovic Hamlet is one of the largest co-productions the Balkans have seen for 20 years - artists from Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia are involved. Pasovic says the multicultural casting was not political; he wanted to work with artists he appreciated. Zagreb, Belgrade and the British Council have all contributed funding. Pasovic plans to approach the Barbican about staging his show in London, too. A renowned theatre director in Bosnia, Pasovic is well known for avant garde and experimental productions. In 1993, he worked with Susan Sontag on her candlelit Waiting for Godot in the then-besieged Sarajevo. The Guardian Hamlet has become a Muslim prince at the Ottoman court in an adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy which its Bosnian director says reflects the world after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. In possibly the biggest theater co-production the war-torn Balkans region has seen in some 20 years, Haris Pasovic is seeking to put "Hamlet" into a 21st Century setting. Just as Ottoman princes wore undershirts embroidered with Islamic prayers before they went into battle, Pasovic's Hamlet wears an undershirt on which the line "To be, or not to be -- that is the question" is printed in Arabic script. It was well received in Sarajevo, a traditionally multi-ethnic city dominated by moderate Muslims since the war. Pasovic is renowned for his experimental approach to theater. In 2002 he staged a post-modernist interpretation of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" in front of the bombed out parliament building in central Sarajevo. This time he chose the Ottoman court for its resemblance to Shakespeare's Danish one, where characters vie bloodily against one another for control over the throne and the court's affairs. The play, set in obviously Eastern, though minimalist scenery, is visually striking with colourful costumes and mystical music performed live on stage. Reuters Shakespeare's tragedy as an encounter of civilizations Novi list , Croatia Actors and actresses conveyed a message of civilization and culture. Dnevni avaz, Sarajevo The place and the time are absolutely irrelevant and what is relevant is the relationship between an individual and the authority. Each authority is surrounded with intrigue, will to gain power, manipulation, and treason – be it at the micro-level (family), or macro-level (sultan’s court). Political games are played everywhere and, instead at the Danish court, Pasovic has placed his Hamlet at the Ottoman court, in a Muslim environment. In the time, when unnecessary animosities between the East and the West, between Christian and Muslim worlds, are being forced upon us, when Western civilization, in its theoretical considerations, arrogantly puts Orient in the position of the Other, such an interpretation is not surprising at all. Without diverting and adapting Shakespeare’s text to the new context (except for adding Turkish titles and greetings), Pasovic has merged very delicately an Oriental culture and an Occidental text, wishing to warn us that between those two worlds there are more similarities than differences… With his youth and his energy, Amar Selimovic was an excellent choice for the main role... Slaven Knezovic has given to his Polonius certain playfulness, interpreting him with dynamism and wit. Damir Markovina, playing a low-key Horatio was also excellent.... Slobodna Dalmacija, Croatia A firm narrative of a tragedy at the Turkish court…. Pasovic transformed King Claudius – played brilliantly by Frano Maskovic – into a sultan and something very interesting happened: Hamlet functions better at the Turkish than at the Danish court… Jutarnji list, Croatia A brilliant production… Nacional, Croatia Intelligent and brave... The Hamlet-Ophelia-Horatio triangle, besides powerful forces of love among them, carries a tension of unity in tragedy, as well as in a vengeful drive, which gives to the individual revenge a force of generational revolt, both tragic and sacrificial. This force of the urge to put the world back into its joint is best seen in the acting of brilliant Amar Selimovic, an actor whose body literally suffers throughout the performance, ranging from an irritating rush, trough physical pain of someone who is beaten up, to the psycho-physical agony of someone who is a culprit and a righteous in the same time… Radio 101, Croatia Music is what gives rhythm, atmosphere and soul to this «Hamlet» Vjesnik, Croatia The whole production and particularly the cast made a very strong impression on me. Amar Selimovic possesses an incredible acting energy and a brilliant career lies ahead of him… Josko Juvancic, legendary Croatian theatre director Pasovic’s «Hamlet» in Zagreb - Amar Selimovic won both public and critics… Oslobodjenje, Sarajevo The «European Theater at ZKM» cycle is this seasons’ hit in the theater life of Zagreb....All the three performance of the Sarajevo production of «Hamlet» was sold out… Globus, Croatia Standing ovations for masterful directing Gloria, Serbia Powerful… Impressive… Delo, Slovenia FAUST More than 2,000 MES spectators, achieving a record not only for the Festival, but also for Bosnian theatre in general, have reportedly seen “Faust”. SOUTHEAST EUROPEAN TIMES The Bosnian director who set Shakespeare's "Hamlet" in the Ottoman court to reflect the world after September 11, 2001 has transported the tale of Faust into the near future, where robots reject the humans that create them. Haris Pasovic paints a bleak picture of humanity in his daring adaptation of the classic story...In the new version, Dr. Faust, the character who agrees to give his soul to the devil in return for superhuman powers while he is alive, creates bio-robots which develop the ability to decide for themselves and procreate...In an attempt to portray how low humanity could sink, he includes scenes that are instantly recognizable as portrayals of mistreatment of prisoners at the U.S. military base of Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and at the Iraqi prison of Abu Ghraib. Other passages of the play also portray the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington and Islamic militant suicide bombings....Pasovic deliberately moved his Faust away from the traditional religious setting and into a high-tech, globalized world in which humans have lost their souls. Pasovic is well known for avant-garde and experimental productions, and in 1993 he worked with Susan Sontag on her candlelit "Waiting for Godot" in the then-besieged Sarajevo. REUTERS Theatrical show ahead of our time OSLOBODJENJE, Sarajevo ….imaginative, original and innovative…Markovina as Dr.Faust is trilling… DNEVNI AVAZ, Sarajevo