Sixteen young people from Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, who come from all ethnic communities (five Albanians, six Serbs and five Roma) are currently working together on a play called „You and I are we“, which deals with the topics that are characteristic for  the growing-up period. The actors and authors of the play are at the same time the main characters in it, so that the text of the play is created by combining and dramatic shaping of their personal views about the world. The gathering of material for the play began by compiling a long questionnaire that had to be filled in.  There were over one hundred questions in the questionnaire, which were grouped according various topics, such as family, relationship with siblings, associating with people, friendships, school and studying, hobbies, idols, spare time, falling in love, plans for the future,  to name just a few of them.

We are going to convey to you the most interesting details from their workshops, as well as some of the most fascinating replies to the questions. …

Establishment of the group

A crisis occurs during preparatory work on every play. A crisis in the “You and I are we” play occurred when the head of a workshop and actor Aleksandar Lazic got angry with workshop participants, who were so unfocused that he walked out of the workshop in protest. No one knows what workshop participants thereafter did, but Aleksandar was hugely surprised at the next rehearsal. After walking into the community center’s room, he saw a whole team of young actors. On finishing their warm-up exercises in total silence, they lined up and one after one performed what they had learned at previous rehearsals. Aleksandar could only applaud them. Young project participants reached an agreement among them for the first time and showed how they had become a genuine group!  

Discussions that occur after completion of rehearsals are the best indicator of how much members of the group improved. At the beginning, Milena Bogavac, who was involved in the discussions, was faced with huge problems, because in addition to language barrier, workshop participants, who come from various ethnic communities, were faced with a lot of other barriers as well. The discussions were animated and heated. For instance, when asked what he would do if his parents forbade him to marry the girl he loves, Sadrija Raimovic yelled in front of all group members “I would kill myself!” Also, standpoints on various occurrences in society were rather divided. It seems that the discussions became less intense after a few weeks. Workshop participants learned that other people’s standpoints shouldn’t be characterized by saying “That isn’t normal!”. It’s also interesting to note that they stopped interrupting one another.  When asked about his initial statement, Sadrija Raimovic acknowledged, a few weeks afterwards, that it was unserious, and as to expressing their views on occurrences in other people’s cultures, workshop participants now more frequently say to one another: “Don’t be angry with me, but that seems so to me  … The role of a facilitator was slowly, yet surely, assumed by Nesibe Osmani, a workshop participant, who managed to prudently cope with and outspeak her fellow participants in the workshop. In that respect, it is interesting to know that Nesibe completed a course in mediation and is a member of students’ parliament who had already received praises from her teachers for her mediation skills….

„You and I are we, and we are proud of working with you! “

Workshop participants work on the text of a play by having a series of individual talks with Milena Bogavac, a dramaturge of the play. Milena has small talk with workshop participants about different issues in a relaxed and intimate atmosphere, while the talk that she had with Nesibe Osmani made her dedicate a newspaper article to her, which appeared in Saturday’s edition of the “Evening News”. After the newspaper article had been published, Aleksandar Lazic decided to read it to all members of the group. The response to it was extremely good, while Milena got SMSs from several workshop participants that day. The most engaging SMS was sent by Miljana Nikolic and it read as follows: “You and I are we, and we are proud of working with you!”  

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At family St. Patron’s Day for the first time

Rahim Saljihu is an irreplaceable associate on the “You and I are we” project. Although he had been initially engaged as an Albanian interpreter, Rahim became much more than that. Apart from being an interpreter, he is also an organizer, a driver and a host that makes an effort to meet the wishes of his fellow associates on every possible occasion. Upon finding out that Milena Andrejevic would have a birthday while working on the play, Rahim organized team members to get her an original birthday present.  During a rehearsal, he surreptitiously dropped it into the pocket of Milena’s jacket. … After having become friendly with authors of the play, he was, for the first time in his life, invited to the Serbian family Saint Patron’s Day, where, according to him, he had a very good time. Although he spends his days at rehearsals and on working on the play, Rahim finds the time to study, so that he occasionally goes to Tetovo, where he studies diplomacy, to take preliminary exams. Whenever Rahim takes exams, Dafina Aljiju, a workshop participant that can speaks Serbian very well, takes the role of an interpreter.  Dafina has a perfect sense of hearing, so that it’s no wonder she’s the best singer in the group.  

…

Support of parents

In order for parents to familiarize themselves with the project in which their children participate, a parents’ meeting was organized prior to one of the evening rehearsals. Blerim Hasani’s mother took Blerim’s one-year old sister to the meeting. During the meeting, young Erina crawled all over the room and laughed, and no workshop participant could help kissing her. Upon completion of the meeting, all those who wished to stay at the rehearsal could do so. That is what Dejan Jacimovic’s mother did, while Dejan was extremely good on the stage that evening. Since Dejan was perfect during the rehearsal, workshop managers played a joke on him by asking his mother to visit them as frequently as possible….

Actors in a park

Residents of Bujanovac, who were spending an October afternoon in the park that is located next to the kindergarten, could see an unusual scene when the team of the play “You and I are we”, which was led by Aleksandar Lazic, rushed into the park and rehearsed  the play in a public spot. Without paying any attention to curious looks and teasing, workshop participants did their exercises. The rehearsal was their first contact with the audience. Ersana Kadric didn’t do well during the experimental class, because the children from the settlement where she lives were there. She told Aleksandar that she was embarrassed to “pretend to be an actress” in front of the kids who know her. Aleksandar encouraged her, so that Ersana repeated the exercises bravely and convincingly. Other group members hailed her by applause, while children from her settlement did the same.  They didn’t tease her! They were surprised that she didn’t pretend to be an actress, but was a genuine actress.

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Fashion accessories

In order to enable workshop participants to memorize the names of their associates faster, Zoran Lazic decided to make them name plates with photographs of them, which they could carry with them. He firstly considered the practicality of nameplates, and never even thought that they would become fashion accessories.  Workshop participants were so delighted by them, so that they carry them even when they go to school or the city center in the evening….

Imagine that you suddenly got a huge amount of money, for instance a million US dollars! What would you like to spend it on?

„If only I could win the money! … I know right now what I would spend it on. I would firstly purchase an apartment in a city that suits me at that moment. I would then get myself a good car, which should by all means be red. I would then travel to exotic places, and would also buy myself clothes, shoes and make-up (characteristic for girls).  I would divide the reminder of the money in two halves, and would put the first half into a bank savings account, while I would divide the second half into three portions: the first portion would go to my family, the second portion would be used for humanitarian purposes, while I would spend the third portion on purchasing presents for relatives and friends, or on giving them smaller amounts of money when they really need them… And now, please, tell me where the money is given, so that I would, as if by accident, pass by it! “

Milena Andrejevic

Which school subject do you like the most and why?

„Mathematics, because it is the most difficult of all school subjects, and I like it when things at school are difficult. If we had 200 math classes per week, I would never play truant! “

Dejan Jacimovic

What would you do and think if all your classmates agreed to play truant?

„I would be the first to do it, and would also congratulate the person who had such a brilliant idea”

Mentor Zaciri

Do you watch the news program and why?

„Yes I do, in order to hear the weather forecast and to find out if we’ll join the EU.”

Nesibe Osmani

Politics – what is it?

„That is something that I like“

Nesibe Osmani

„I don’t know what politics is, because it keeps changing! “

Blerim Hasani

Do you watch programs that are not advisable for your age?

„Yes, I do! I watch them on purpose to find out what is it that is unsuitable for me to watch! “

Ersana Kadric

Which was the happiest day in your life? 

„When Barcelona beat Real by 6:2! “

Abelant Zahiri

What is your ordinary day like?

„It goes like this: I wake up in the morning, have breakfast, go to school, have coffee with friends, go home, sleep and watch all possible Spanish soap operas. In case I have some spare time, I might do some studying before going to bed.” 

Milena Andrejevic 

Should persons we fancy show their feelings openly?

„If they’re embarrassed to do it openly, then they should do it secretly “

Miroslav Dzikic

What is a divorce?

„When two people separate and only the children feel sorry about it! “

Dalip Idic

What is it that you could never do for living?

„I could never be a drug-dealer! “

Bujar Bajrami 

The “You and I are we” project is funded by the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia. The project is aimed at encouraging young people to take an active part in society in a creative way.