“Youth Without God” now more than ever, reflects the reality in which we live, serving as a powerful critique of the social trends and challenges placed before contemporary youth. This contemporary post-dramatic interpretation of Ödön von Horváth’s novel, which is, in turn, inspired by the works of Franco Bifo Berardi, reflects today’s Europe confronted with nihilism, social Darwinism, white Christian identity, and extreme digitalisation. The project creates a poignant image of youth lost in technology and a social system that gives no answers but by focusing on entirely false values rather incites rebellion that leads to slaughter.
An extremely demanding piece in terms of performance, it necessarily instils the viewer with genuine dread at the thought that there is a young person out there who may contemplate mass killing in their school. The play examines the breakdown of the humanist idea of community, the obsession with self-promotion, and new radicalisation by addressing the issues of upbringing, education, and the social influence of fascism on young people, underscoring at the same time the relevance of the current social and political context.
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Directed by: Borut Šeparović
Text: Borut Šeparović, Ivana Vuković
Dramaturge: Borut Šeparović, Ivana Vuković
Movement director: Damir Klemenić
Stage designer: Borut Šeparović, Konrad Mulvaj
Video & multimedia: MONTAЖSTROJ & Mitropa
Sound and music: MONTAЖSTROJ, Michel Corrette, Antonio Vivaldi
Costume designer: Marta Žegura
Light designer: Aleksandar Čavlek
Sound designer: Bruno Fretze
Stage manager: Petra Prša
Cast: Rakan Rushaidat, Ugo Korani, Nikolina Prkačin, Toma Medvešek, Ivan Pašalić, Lucija Dujmović, Bernard Tomić
Age restrictions: 16+
Running time: 1 h 45 min (no intermission)
Performed in Croatian, with English, Romanian and Hungarian translation