Critical Cabaret
Oliver Frljić

Oliver Frljić is regarded as one of Europe’s most emblematic directors of the last two decades when it comes to the theatre of rebellion. His productions are punctuated with social revolt, expressing popular dissent against nationalism of any kind, the politics of the Catholic Church (which he is well familiar with), capitalism, the blindness it generates and the poverty it leaves in its wake, homophobia, the repercussions of colonialism, as well as patriotism and melancholy.

As an authority on post-Yugoslav and European space as such, Frljić claims that neither area has dispensed with historical fascism and its legacy. His shows often explore revisionist interpretations of political history, not least, he says, because we live in a time when countries each in their own way consent to at least one or more forms of fascism. But in the end, as one of Frljić’s productions has shown, what unfailingly remains is the casualty count, the lives destroyed, or victims claimed. Sometimes the aforesaid conditions provide the impetus for new political projects.

The April edition of Critical Cabaret will see Patricija Maličev in talk with Oliver Frljić, discussing the above issues, as well as his upcoming show Inkubator, which is scheduled to open at the Mladinsko Theatre in a few weeks' time.