Scene MESS is the production department of the MESS International Theater Festival. Following numerous productions and coproductions between 1993 and 2014, MESS is now formally participating in theatrical programming, in addition to its festival activities. As a theater company, MESS has produced and co-produced 75 plays. It has collaborated with 59 theater houses and companies from 12 different countries. In addition, it staged plays together with the Yugoslav Drama Theater and BITEF from Belgrade, Montenegrin National Theater and Budva Theater City, &TD Theater from Zagreb, Croatian National Theater Ivan noble Zajc from Rijeka, Zagreb Youth Theater, Ex Ponto Theater from Ljubljana and Small Drama Theater of Bitola. MESS has also collaborated with some of the most renowned international theater companies, such as Glob Theater Bordeaux, Corte Sconta from Milan, De Brakke Gron from Amsterdam, and Schaubuehne am Lehniner Platz from Berlin. 336 actors and 43 directors took part in these productions and co-productions.
Scene MESS is indented as a place of artistic freedom. It is a place where artists can explore new forms, question and deconstruct literary classics, write texts and host pre-premieres, make their own projects. It is perhaps, above all, a space where they can take risks, because deep inside we believe there is no progress in art without risk taking and venturing into uncharted territories. The results of which can be unpredictable and different, but never uninteresting or superficial. Scene MESS aims at creating an environment in which artistic teams working on plays can be put together based on the individual sensibilities of their members. Scene MESS does not have a permanent ensemble. It does not have its team of authors either. Each play puts together a new team which allows for a greater fluidity, dynamics and innovativeness, and, at the same time, fosters the development of theater in BiH.
When Scene MESS was first established, it was a utopian idea. A new theater in Sarajevo. Only a year later, Scene MESS has its monthly repertoire, currently ten plays in it, and new projects scheduled for 2016. It has chosen co-production as its mode of operation, since it allows for a creative exchange between countries and theatrical companies, but also advances culture. From 014, Scene MESS worked with the Zagreb Youth Theater, BITEF Theater from Belgrade, Croatian National Theater from Mostar, National Theater of Republika Srpska from Banja Luka, Bosnian National Theater from Zenica, Heartefact Fund from Belgrade, Budva Theater City, Ulysses Theater from Brijuni, Sarajevo War Theater, Kamerni teatar 55 from Sarajevo, Croatian National Theater from Rijeka, National Theater Sarajevo, ArtHub, Youth Theater Sarajevo, Kontakt Association, Babilonia Teatri, Italy.
Our performances have won numerous awards at BiH theater festivals, both regional and international.
Scene MESS has staged plays in numerous venues throughout BiH, thanks to the hospitality of our colleagues from BiH theater houses. Scene MESS, likewise, plans to return the favor, thus creating a meeting point between regional and international collaborations – a place that exudes diversity and praises otherness.