Alexander Upstairs Presents SARAJEVO

1992 Bosnia. Two lovers, Mirela a Bosnian Muslim and Aleksander a Bosnian Serb are due to be married. Slobo, their childhood friend, will be the best man. When civil war erupts the lovers are suddenly thrust onto opposite sides of a bloody conflict. Aleksander and Slobo are conscripted to the Serbian Army. The divide deepens. Told through the lens of an ambitious South African conflict journalist, Peter, who infiltrates their lives so deeply that he is no longer merely a voyeur. As the dream of Yugoslavia dies so does the dream of Aleksander and Mirela's marriage.

We feel an absolute urgency to tell this story so it is remembered and never forgotten. So much of what happened in Yugoslavia was about violence against difference. Without expressing our traumatized past we continue to manifest war into our daily mentality. A mentality of destruction brought into our homes as rape, into our friendships as betrayal, and ultimately into our society as apathy. War, hate and violence are perpetuated on the international news daily. The power of theatre is to speak beyond the limitations of print and online media. Sarajevo epitomises the importance of compassion, forgiveness and love in a world that is submerged in fear, pain and discrimination. This story needs to touch the hearts of the enemy and remind them that the man we kill is our brother, the women we rape is our mother and the children we maim, they are the future of our humanity.

Written by Aimee Ntuli & Lidija Marelic | Directed by Bojan B | Music by Samuel Hyde | Produced by Samuel Hyde | Performed by Aimee Ntuli, Samuel Hyde, Ivan Nedeljkovic, and Max Du Toit Formerly presented as 'Cheers to Sarajevo'
Duration: 60mins

The direct booking page for this particular show is alexanderbar.co.za/show/Sarajevo2019