LocationsStages become bridges of peace across the Western Balkans
March 27, 2026
Performance of M as in Morinj
Theatre can hold many truths; performances forming a tapestry of memories—fragile, painful and deeply human—inviting audiences to listen with empathy and courage.
Across the Western Balkans, communities continue to grapple with the legacies of the 1990s. Decades later, visible and invisible wounds still shape how societies see one another, speak about the past and imagine the future. Yet amid silence, contested memories and fragmented narratives, one unexpected space for transformation has emerged: the theatre stage.
This past year, a series of groundbreaking theatre productions sparked conversations, encouraging empathy and agency, as part of a confidence-building initiative in the Western Balkans. Far more than artistic performances, these plays have become living forums of truth, where audiences confront difficult histories not through textbooks or political debates, but through human stories, emotions and shared experience.
My Land: A regional tour through shared history
A performance of My Land
Created through research, visits to unmarked sites of memory, and difficult conversations within families, My Land started as a play about how young people understand patriotism. In a production by Belgrade-based Reflektor Theatre, in partnership with Centre E8, the cast examined histories absent from schoolbooks, questioned prevailing narratives and confronted what they had been taught about “others”.
However, the impact of My Land can best be understood on the road, between Mostar, Sarajevo, Zagreb, Pristina, Skopje and cities across Serbia. As the young cast travelled with their play, they also travelled through narratives, stereotypes and inherited fears. With every new audience, they discovered something both simple and profound: across the region, their generation is far more alike than they imagined.
The tour turned into a shared journey; after performances, young audience members stayed to talk about what they had grown up hearing, what they had never learned in school, and what they feared or hoped for. These questions echoed in every city, and the cast realised that the lines dividing societies were never drawn by their generation.
Actress Minja Rakićević shared how emotional and ultimately meaningful that journey was: “I didn’t realise how challenging it could be or how deeply some parts might affect someone. In Belgrade, the reactions were great, but that was our familiar audience. Performing in Sarajevo, with an entire scene about the siege of Sarajevo, was completely different - I had chills the whole time. I wasn’t sure if we were doing the right thing, knowing someone in the audience might have lived through it far more personally. But when the house lights finally came up, I knew we had done the right thing.”
The ensemble returned to Serbia with the impressions of their peers across the Western Balkans, and with a powerful conclusion: their future is shared, and building it requires cooperation.
Death in Dubrovnik: A sign of willingness to build trust
A performance of Death in Dubrovnik
1991. A city under siege. The theatre performance Death in Dubrovnik is not simply a retelling of history, but creates a rare encounter between two societies that lived those events from very different perspectives.
Developed in Montenegro by drama studio Prazan Prostor, in cooperation with Human Rights Action, and based on testimonies of people who took part in or witnessed the attack, the play invites one society to look honestly at its role in violence, while giving the other a chance to see that such acknowledgement is possible.
For many viewers, this openness is something they have never witnessed in public life: people from the “other side” speaking candidly about responsibility, shame and the dangers of denial. Before, these voices mostly conversed privately; on stage, they now form a chorus that audiences cannot easily turn away from.
The impact is especially powerful when the play is performed in the very city that was under attack. The presence of actors and artists on the stage in Dubrovnik becomes a meaningful gesture - a sign of willingness to face difficult truths and build trust grounded in honesty rather than silence.
Death in Dubrovnik transforms the stage into more than a place for performance. It becomes a bridge between societies that still struggle to speak openly about their shared history, offering a space where understanding can gradually take root.
Eyes of the wolf: Bringing silenced stories into the light
A performance of Eyes of the Wolf
Few topics are as sensitive and silenced as conflict-related sexual violence and the experiences of children born as a result of these crimes. Eyes of the Wolf steps into this silence with courage and care.
The production by Pristina-based CSO Integra, is set in a remote mountain cabin and follows three generations of women. Rather than sensationalizing trauma, this performance gives voice to the complex realities of survivors and their families—the fear, the stigma, the long struggle for acceptance within their communities. For many audience members, it is the first time they have seen these stories treated with empathy and dignity on a public stage.
The reactions after performances often reveal just how deep the silence has been. People speak of relatives whose stories were never discussed, of neighbours whose suffering was known but never acknowledged, of children who grew up sensing something unspoken. By naming these experiences and placing them at the centre of the story, Eyes of the Wolf helps shift attitudes from judgment toward understanding, from avoidance toward solidarity.
The play does more than raise awareness of past crimes. It sends a clear message about the present and future: survivors and children born of conflict-related sexual violence deserve recognition, respect and a place in their communities.
Storks: Youth asking for recognition and empathy
A performance of Storks
In Storks, it is young people who ask the hardest questions. On stage, over 40 children and youth from Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, guide audiences through several decades—from the period of the former Yugoslavia, through the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the genocide in Srebrenica, to a contemporary European setting in Munich.
The story of Delila and Rodoljub—two children whose lives intersect during war and reconnect 20 years later—touches audiences precisely because it is told through the eyes of youth. Their interrupted childhoods, attempts to build lives after the conflict, and encounter in another country all reflect the long shadow the war casts over generations born after it.
Produced by Youth Theatre Tuzla, with the Bosnian Cultural Centre of the Tuzla Canton and the Secondary School of Contemporary Arts, the play does not simply recount events. Grounded in historical facts and informed by international court judgments, it asks for recognition of the scale and meaning of the crimes committed and calls upon audiences to listen to the stories behind the statistics. Many viewers, especially younger ones, leave the theatre with a deeper understanding of what these events meant for real people.
The cast felt responsibility as they engaged with histories whose consequences are still felt today. For actress Anja Bulić, performing this story made her confront the ongoing impact of the past—both on the region and on herself. “This was the reality for so many people - and it still is. We often think it’s behind us, but unfortunately, the consequences are all around us. As long as we ignore that, we cannot move forward. That’s why I feel that taking responsibility is the most important thing we all have to face.”
The presence of so many young performers itself sends a powerful message: the new generations are willing to learn, to empathise and to ask for a future in which such crimes are neither denied nor repeated.
M as in Morinj: For a culture of remembrance
A performance of M as in Morinj
While many public discussions about the past focus on events and dates, M as in Morinj reminds audiences that the places where these events occurred also carry memory.
Produced by Juventas in cooperation with Podgorica’s Atak (Alternative Theatre Active Company), the play deals with the legacy of the Morinj camp from 1991 and the broader social context of the war. Drawing on testimonies and archival materials, it examines how systems of violence function, and the role of individuals within such systems—grappling with moral choices, the pressure to conform and the weight of silence.
Staged in an intimate, chamber‑style format, the audience and actors share the stage, removing the usual distance between performers and viewers. With this more immersive experience, the audience is directly confronted with the reality of the camp and topics that are still not openly discussed in public.
The play encouraged the audience to reflect on the past, society's readiness to acknowledge the truth and the importance of a culture of remembrance, especially when places of suffering are not properly marked.
The cast of Storks
Art as bridge: youth, trust, and a common future
Each of these performances has its own story, focus and emotional language, yet they share something essential.
They all place young people at the centre—as creators, performers and audiences. They do not simply learn about history; they embody it, question it and carry it forward in a new way. Through workshops, rehearsals and post-show discussions, they engage with stories rarely discussed in classrooms or textbooks. They all bring to light versions of history many young people have never heard in full - stories that were silenced, simplified, or filtered. On stage, these stories gain faces, voices and emotions, making them harder to ignore and easier to empathise with.
And perhaps most importantly, they all reveal what people in the region have in common, making it easier to chart a future together.
The theatre plays were staged through projects granted under UNDP’s regional initiative EU Support to Confidence Building in the Western Balkans, funded by the European Union. The initiative works to increase accountability for war crimes in the Western Balkans, strengthen public support for these processes, as well as to foster dialogue within societies and between ethnic groups about crimes committed during the 1990s, all with the vision of achieving sustainable peace in the region.
Related
content
content
