Balkan Strategies

Sa？etak The article is focused on Oliver Frlji？’s performances, that where staged in Poland. The political dimension of the works of the Croatian director is in the foreground and the agonistic model of democracy by Chantal Mouffe is the key research perspective. Frlji？ first worked in Poland at the invitation of the National Stary Theatre in Krakow, in 2013 where he was to direct Zygmunt Krasiński’s Nie-Boska komedia (The Un-Divine Comedy). In his work on the production, the director focused on two aspects: the anti-Semitic dimension of the text itself and confrontation with the production of the same drama directed at the Stary Theatre in 1965 by the legendary director Konrad Swinarski. Nie-boska komedia. Szcz？tki (The Un-Divine Comedy: Remains), as Frlji？’s production was to be titled, never premiered, but is nevertheless one of the most radical and effective critical interventions in Polish theatre in recent years. The fundamental issue here was the hidden anti-Semitism and xenophobia in Polish society. In 2017 year Frlji？ was invited to the Powszechny Theatre in Warsaw, where he was to direct a classical drama, this time Kl？twa (The Curse) by Stanis？aw Wyspiański. The drama was a starting point for the Croatian director to discuss contemporary Polish religiousness. In the performance Frlji？ asks: To what extent are our decisions influenced by Catholic morals? How do they affect the perception of people who declare their independence from the Church, and what do they mean for those who regard themselves as Catholics? And most of all: to what extent is modern art defined by religious censorship, self-censorship, and avoidance of the accusation of ？insulting religious beliefs？