CAFE SARAJEVO

An immersive theatrical experience exploring the borders that divide and unite us, within the framework of a live podcast.

Café Sarajevo follows protagonist, Lucy Simic, as she travels to her father’s birthplace, Bosnia. Along the way, we explore divided cities and the notion of “human nature”, asking the question: what causes a nation to divide, and begin to hate the very people and culture that it used to see at its own?

With story, dance, game, music, 360° video, and by casting the audience as characters in the story, internationally acclaimed performance makers bluemouth inc. create a fast-paced, intimate, and thoughtful exploration about nationalism, racial bias and war tourism.

An excerpt of Café Sarajevo was shared with sold-out houses as part of the 2018 SummerWorks Lab, where it received honourable mention for the Buddies in Bad Times Vanguard Award for Risk and Innovation. SummerWorks is thrilled to now present the North American premiere of the fully realized work for Toronto audiences.

DURATION
90 minutes

CREDITS
Created and Performed by Mariel Marshall, Peter Musante, Lucy Simic and Stephen O’Connell
Stage Director / Production Manager: Lisa Humber
Stage Manager (Progress Festival): Gloria Mok
Creative Technologist: Jacob Niedzwiecki
Projection & VR Operator: Kaitlin Hickey
Lighting Designer: Patrick Lavender

The piece was presented at the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival, and the Progress Festival in Toronto with the support of the High Commission of Canada in Singapore, Canadian Heritage, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council.

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY

An in-development workshop of the piece was presented to sold-out houses at the 2018 SummerWorks Lab, where it received honourable mention for the Buddies In Bad Times Vanguard Award for risk and innovation.

In April 2019, we completed a week-long technical residency in partnership with the Theatre Centre to prepare the project for touring and presentation. This residency allowed us to scale the piece for a 2000 square foot venue and to integrate in critical design elements.

The piece was developed with the generous support of the Toronto Arts Council, The Canada Council for the Arts and BMO.

Photos by: Crispian Chan