Digital age - advantage or disservice to young people?

The rich program of the third evening of the Festival of Dramatic Amateurs (FDA) was marked by performances about the challenges of modern society. The greatest challenge for a director Zoran Rakočević was to understand the circumstances in which young people grow up and form themselves as people. The author's project of young people from Podgorica and Bijelo Polje "Autumn in my neighborhood", produced by the Association for Children and Youth - House from Podgorica, stood out with its bold, fast and contemporary theatrical expression. The play was performed on the fourth evening of the Amateur Drama Festival in Bijelo Polje. In addition to it, the same evening the actors of the Student Theater from Podgorica performed in the play "Some New People", written and directed by Dragan Koprivica, as well as the Theater Workshop "Dodest" with the play "Omelet", based on the text David Đoljaj and directed Sejf SeferovićAs director Zoran Rakočević told "Vijesti", the play "Autumn in My Neighborhood", which won the Silver Page in the category of plays for young people at the 68th International Festival of Children and Youth Performing Arts "May Games" in Bečej, functions as a comedy, farce and caricature through which young people critically speak out about current social phenomena.

"It is always challenging to work with young people because generations change quickly. This is not my first time working with them, especially with students from various high schools in Podgorica, but new generations are coming incredibly quickly. This generation is so unique, different and lives in a new world that we, who are a little older, or those who are much older, have a hard time understanding," said Rakočević. In fact, he pointed out, the biggest challenge is to understand the circumstances in which they grow up and form as people. "I'm sure it's not easy for them and that we often assume that their lives are much easier than they were for previous generations, before society went digital. I think it's hard for them, especially to deal with the preconceptions and prejudices that we have about them as very passive and those who don't think, which is actually not true. They surprised both me and my colleague more than positively with how much they actually think. They may not know something that I knew at 15, 16 or 17 years old, but in many other fields they are much ahead of us and know a lot. Although the digital age has allowed them to have a set of information at their fingertips, I think that this is actually not an advantage, but a counter-service," concluded Rakočević. The text and roles are signed by: Petra Radenkovic, Lena Sebek, Una Stankovic, Petar Scepanovic, Simeun Barasin, Janja Cetkovic i Petar Jovovic.

"Some New People" as a warning about screen addiction

Author's project Dragan Koprivica "Some New People" pointed out the "benefits" but also the misuse of mobile phones, as well as their negative impact on young people. The main role of the waiter of an imaginary restaurant was played by a drama enthusiast Darko Bulic from Podgorica, while the other roles were played by: Danijela Sundic, Vuk Raskovic, Emir Ticic, Larisa Sekulovic i Damjan PopovicKoprivica said he was surprised that no one had addressed the topic of mobile phone obsession before him. He explained that with this play he wanted to show the degree of alienation of today's man in the world of screens and digital content.

"By addressing the topic of excessive phone use, we have shown that it can be turned into a warning theater play. It proves that all of this can lead us to extreme cases that are stage-appropriate and treatable, as a kind of warning to see where we are, whether these 'new people' are in trouble and how to get out of it," said Koprivica.

"Omelet" for the end of the third festival evening

The text for the play "Omelet", which was the last in the repertoire of the fourth festival evening, was written by David Đoljaj, who also plays in this play. In addition to him, the cast consists of: Itana Pejanovic, Milica Popovic, Milos Durkovic i Srdja Popovic.