Safet Plakalo
Encyclopedia
Safet Plakalo is arguably the most prominent living Bosniak playwright
and one of the few South Slavic
writers of poetic dramatic orientation. His unique dramatic expression integrates the precise poetic form of a sonnet
deeply into a dramatic form.
Having written his first play, Vrh (The Peak), at the artistically tender age of 26, he still holds the honour of being the youngest playwright in the theatrical history of Bosnia and Herzegovina
whose play was staged by a professional theatre. The success of Vrh had secured him his first commission to write a play about the 1941 anti-fascist insurgence in the Romanija region near Sarajevo
. Though one of his best plays, Iza šutnjes (Beyond Silence) attempt to demystify the legend of Slaviša Vajner Čiča, a Partisan
leader at the heart of the events, displeased Bosnian political censors. As a result, the play was swiftly taken off the repertoires of the four out of five leading Bosnian theatres. The fifth one, in Banja Luka
, never attempted to stage it.
Plakalo wrote his third play Nit in the middle of the censorship battle, but disheartened by the outcome and the "incomprehensible attitude of the Bosnian theatrical world towards home-grown dramatic literature", he temporarily gave up on writing to become a theatre critic. It was a personal tragedy that made him return to his dramatic and poetic roots with an autobiographical memento mori to his tragically killed wife, Sonja, Phoenix je sagorio uzalud (Phoenix Has Burnt In Vain). On his 36th birthday, and ten years after his first play, he finally saw another of his works premiered on a theatre stage.
His doubt, however, didn't leave him and it was only at the request of his great friend and the doyen of the Bosnian theatre, actor Safet Pašalić, that he agreed to write Kulin IV (Kulin the Fourth). As destiny would have it, the great actor died not long after the work's completion, and Plakalo decided not to follow through with the production. By the end of the fourth decade of his life, while his daughter Tamara was still a girl, Plakalo completed three more dramas, all three of them (Koncert za klavir i svjetlost, Preparirano proljeće and Balada o Modrinji), for children.
What followed was his most significant drama to date, Lutkino bespuće (A Doll's Wasteland), Plakalo's 'reply' to Henrik Ibsen
's A Doll's House (Nora). Lutkino bespuće earned Plakalo a reputation as the 'Ibsen of Bosnia' both at home and abroad. The play caught the eye of the Columbia University
Ibsenologist, Professor Sandra Saari, and Norway's Ibsen Stage Festival, but another twist of fate put Plakalo's international plans on hold as his beloved Sarajevo
came under siege in 1992.
as a form of spiritual resistance to the madness of war. Together with Bibanović, Plakalo embarks on writing Sarajevo's first authentic war play - Sklonište (The Shelter), in which he explored the genre of grotesque as the only meaningful approach to the tragedy that surrounded them. During the next 12 months, Sarajevans braved shelling, snipers and hunger to see Sklonište 97 times, often under candlelight. The theatre's ensemble did the same for its audience taking the performance to the front-line on more than one occasion, and giving some 2000 performances during Sarajevo's four years under siege.
In 1994, at the height of the siege, Plakalo wrote a letter to his friend Stein Wing, director of the National Theatre of Norway, and with support from Waclav Havel, Ingmar Bergman
, Ellen Horn
and Bibi Andersson
, the troupe made its way through Sarajevo's only lifeline, the famous Tunnel, to make its first international appearance at the Ibsen Stage Festival in Oslo
. Since then, SARTR
has made over a hundred appearances around Europe, and collaborated widely, most notably with the Valencian dramatist José Sanchís Sinisterra
, Bordeaux's Globe Theatre
, and the Ex-ponto International Festival in Slovenia
.
The Memoirs of Mina Hauzen, another Plakalo's play, was SARTR's
first post-war production. However, despite their immense popularity, neither Sklonište, nor The Memoirs had a lasting effect on Plakalo's dramatic orientation. As the world around him returned to an uneasy peace, Plakalo returned to his primary interest - the theatre of human intimacy, penning an hommage to his mother in a play about Prophet Muhammad
's daughter, Fatima. The most complex of his plays, Hazreti Fatima (Fatima Az-Sahra), marks Plakalo's return to another interest - poetic drama, demonstrating his T. S. Eliot
-inspired need to address the reader in a strict poetic form with rare erudition and piety. His fascination with the fundamental philosophical issues of women's existence soon found another expression in the play Smrt i čežnja Silvije Plat (The Death and Desire of Sylvia Plath
), another hommage, this time to the great American poetess.
Plakalo was also the spiritus movens behind the famous 1969 Poetic Marathon, is a former journalist of Oslobodjenje, Večernje novine, and Sarajevo "202", and a respected theatre critic
. He lives and works in Sarajevo
, where he is still at the helm of SARTR
. His first novel is currently being prepared for print.
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and one of the few South Slavic
South Slavs
The South Slavs are the southern branch of the Slavic peoples and speak South Slavic languages. Geographically, the South Slavs are native to the Balkan peninsula, the southern Pannonian Plain and the eastern Alps...
writers of poetic dramatic orientation. His unique dramatic expression integrates the precise poetic form of a sonnet
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
deeply into a dramatic form.
Having written his first play, Vrh (The Peak), at the artistically tender age of 26, he still holds the honour of being the youngest playwright in the theatrical history of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
whose play was staged by a professional theatre. The success of Vrh had secured him his first commission to write a play about the 1941 anti-fascist insurgence in the Romanija region near Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
. Though one of his best plays, Iza šutnjes (Beyond Silence) attempt to demystify the legend of Slaviša Vajner Čiča, a Partisan
Partisans (Yugoslavia)
The Yugoslav Partisans, or simply the Partisans were a Communist-led World War II anti-fascist resistance movement in Yugoslavia...
leader at the heart of the events, displeased Bosnian political censors. As a result, the play was swiftly taken off the repertoires of the four out of five leading Bosnian theatres. The fifth one, in Banja Luka
Banja Luka
-History:The name "Banja Luka" was first mentioned in a document dated February 6, 1494, but Banja Luka's history dates back to ancient times. There is a substantial evidence of the Roman presence in the region during the first few centuries A.D., including an old fort "Kastel" in the centre of...
, never attempted to stage it.
Plakalo wrote his third play Nit in the middle of the censorship battle, but disheartened by the outcome and the "incomprehensible attitude of the Bosnian theatrical world towards home-grown dramatic literature", he temporarily gave up on writing to become a theatre critic. It was a personal tragedy that made him return to his dramatic and poetic roots with an autobiographical memento mori to his tragically killed wife, Sonja, Phoenix je sagorio uzalud (Phoenix Has Burnt In Vain). On his 36th birthday, and ten years after his first play, he finally saw another of his works premiered on a theatre stage.
His doubt, however, didn't leave him and it was only at the request of his great friend and the doyen of the Bosnian theatre, actor Safet Pašalić, that he agreed to write Kulin IV (Kulin the Fourth). As destiny would have it, the great actor died not long after the work's completion, and Plakalo decided not to follow through with the production. By the end of the fourth decade of his life, while his daughter Tamara was still a girl, Plakalo completed three more dramas, all three of them (Koncert za klavir i svjetlost, Preparirano proljeće and Balada o Modrinji), for children.
What followed was his most significant drama to date, Lutkino bespuće (A Doll's Wasteland), Plakalo's 'reply' to Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
's A Doll's House (Nora). Lutkino bespuće earned Plakalo a reputation as the 'Ibsen of Bosnia' both at home and abroad. The play caught the eye of the Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
Ibsenologist, Professor Sandra Saari, and Norway's Ibsen Stage Festival, but another twist of fate put Plakalo's international plans on hold as his beloved Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
came under siege in 1992.
Theatre against death
In the city paralyzed by war, Plakalo and three of his close friends and collaborators, Gradimir Gojer, Đorđe Mačkić and Dubravko Bibanović, decided to form Sarajevo War Theatre (SARTR)Sarajevo War Theatre (SARTR)
The Sarajevo War Theatre was founded on 17 May 1992 on the initiative of Dubravko Bibanović, Gradimir Gojer, Đorđe Mačkić and Safet Plakalo....
as a form of spiritual resistance to the madness of war. Together with Bibanović, Plakalo embarks on writing Sarajevo's first authentic war play - Sklonište (The Shelter), in which he explored the genre of grotesque as the only meaningful approach to the tragedy that surrounded them. During the next 12 months, Sarajevans braved shelling, snipers and hunger to see Sklonište 97 times, often under candlelight. The theatre's ensemble did the same for its audience taking the performance to the front-line on more than one occasion, and giving some 2000 performances during Sarajevo's four years under siege.
In 1994, at the height of the siege, Plakalo wrote a letter to his friend Stein Wing, director of the National Theatre of Norway, and with support from Waclav Havel, Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...
, Ellen Horn
Ellen Horn
Ellen Horn is a Norwegian actress and politician for the Labour Party. She is educated at the State Acting College and has been an associate of Norsk Rikskringkasting, Nationaltheatret and is currently director of Riksteatret. During the Second cabinet Stoltenberg she was Minister of Culture...
and Bibi Andersson
Bibi Andersson
Bibi Andersson is a Swedish actress.-Early life:Bibi Andersson was born as Berit Elisabeth Andersson in Kungsholmen, Stockholm, the daughter of Karin , a social worker, and Josef Andersson, a businessman...
, the troupe made its way through Sarajevo's only lifeline, the famous Tunnel, to make its first international appearance at the Ibsen Stage Festival in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
. Since then, SARTR
Sarajevo War Theatre (SARTR)
The Sarajevo War Theatre was founded on 17 May 1992 on the initiative of Dubravko Bibanović, Gradimir Gojer, Đorđe Mačkić and Safet Plakalo....
has made over a hundred appearances around Europe, and collaborated widely, most notably with the Valencian dramatist José Sanchís Sinisterra
José Sanchis Sinisterra
José Sanchis Sinisterra is a Spanish playwright and theatre director. He was born in Valencia. He is best known, outside of Spain, for his award-winning play, ¡Ay Carmela!.-Publications:...
, Bordeaux's Globe Theatre
Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613...
, and the Ex-ponto International Festival in Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
.
The Memoirs of Mina Hauzen, another Plakalo's play, was SARTR's
Sarajevo War Theatre (SARTR)
The Sarajevo War Theatre was founded on 17 May 1992 on the initiative of Dubravko Bibanović, Gradimir Gojer, Đorđe Mačkić and Safet Plakalo....
first post-war production. However, despite their immense popularity, neither Sklonište, nor The Memoirs had a lasting effect on Plakalo's dramatic orientation. As the world around him returned to an uneasy peace, Plakalo returned to his primary interest - the theatre of human intimacy, penning an hommage to his mother in a play about Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
's daughter, Fatima. The most complex of his plays, Hazreti Fatima (Fatima Az-Sahra), marks Plakalo's return to another interest - poetic drama, demonstrating his T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
-inspired need to address the reader in a strict poetic form with rare erudition and piety. His fascination with the fundamental philosophical issues of women's existence soon found another expression in the play Smrt i čežnja Silvije Plat (The Death and Desire of Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer...
), another hommage, this time to the great American poetess.
Plakalo was also the spiritus movens behind the famous 1969 Poetic Marathon, is a former journalist of Oslobodjenje, Večernje novine, and Sarajevo "202", and a respected theatre critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
. He lives and works in Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
, where he is still at the helm of SARTR
Sarajevo War Theatre (SARTR)
The Sarajevo War Theatre was founded on 17 May 1992 on the initiative of Dubravko Bibanović, Gradimir Gojer, Đorđe Mačkić and Safet Plakalo....
. His first novel is currently being prepared for print.
Plays
- Vrh (The Peak)
- Iza šutnje (Beyond Silence)
- Nit (In vino veritas) (The Thread)
- Koncert za klavir i svjetlost (Concert for Piano and Light)
- Preparirano proljeće (The Stuffed Springtime)
- Balada o Modrinji (A Ballad about Modrinja)
- Phoenix je sagorio uzalud (Phoenix has burnt in vain)
- Kulin IV (Kulin the Fourth)
- Balada o ex-šampionu (A Ballad about an Ex-champion)
- Lutkino bespuće (A Doll's Wasteland)
- Sklonište (The Shelter)
- Memoari Mine Hauzen (The Memoirs of Mina Houzen)
- Hazreti Fatima (Fatima Az-Sahra)
- Omer za naćvama, libretto based on a play by Alija Nametak
- Soba od vizije (Chambre des Visions) (A Room of Vision)
- Smrt i čežnja Silvije Plat (Désir et mort de Sylvia Plath) (The Death and Desire of Sylvia Plath)