Me and you and we: episode The Strangers

“Na lives an ordered life. Her clothes are neat and ironed, her nails are clean and cut, and her locks are quite manageable. When Na walks, she bounces regularly, and if she had a moustache, it would be carefully combed. Even the space in which she moves reflects a similar harmony – everything is in order, set in right angles; order is kept and the things are taken care of. The contours of her world are clear and the borders are solid. Even the darkness in which Na sleeps is peaceful, dreams do not bring surprises. And that would go on and on like that if there wasn’t for La. She apparently came from far away, carrying nothing but a bag that rustles and hums, rattles and bangs. Na is uneasy and at first does not accept the newcomer, but there is something attractive in her, something dusty and sea-like, something sunny and noisy, something different…”

Concept author: Zrinka Šimičić Mihanović
Performers, authors of music and dance: Lana Juranić (bassoon) and Nastasja Štefanić (dance)
Visual design assistant: Tonka Maleković
Dramaturgical assistant: Dubravko Mihanović

The episode Strangers, as a part of the series Me and you and we, invites the audience to a conversation about solitude and friendship, communication and misunderstandings, about joint living through the acceptance of the other and the diverse, recognizing personal and other’s virtues and the wealth each one of us brings to the community with everything they are and with the skills they possess. Me and you and we is a series of interactive, interdisciplinary stage events for preschoolers and junior primary school pupils. It was created as a result of the collaboration between the visual artist Tonka Maleković, musician Lana Juranić and dance artist Zrinka Šimičić Mihanović and as a continuance of the multi-annual research-educational-performing project for children (and grown -ups) entitled From the balloon to the elephant), conducted by the Multimedia Hut since 2014. Apart from the mentioned three participants, the dance artist and musician Nastasja Štefanić was also a member of the author team of the episode Strangers.

Three years ago, the project entitled From the balloon to the elephant was started with an aim to explore new forms of learning about art and through art, and spreading the interest in contemporary artistic expression, especially with younger population. The focus was, since the very beginning, on the interdisciplinary approach, improvisation and enticement of active participation of audience/participants in the creative process. After the project was being developed for two years through various, mostly workshop formats – for children and parents, indoors, in the public space, etc. – through the series of stage events, Me and you and we, we want to employ our previous experience of performance as a collective creative event.

Production: Multimedia Hut 2016

The project Me and you and we was supported by the City of Zagreb and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia.

In 2017-2019 it was included in the program Backpack (full) of culture of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia.