Nina Mitrović (Croatia), "Theatre is Freedom."

What was your first experience of theater that converted you to wanting to pursue it as a career?

When I was ten a bunch of kids bullied my younger brother on a playground. The top bully got physical. Others were happy, they cheered. I took one of the swings and swung it right into the bully’s head. The gang just stood there, no one did a thing. Then the bully walked away. And that hasn’t changed til this day – I fight for what I believe in. The only difference is, now I don’t need a swing. Words do the job perfectly.

If you could have a drink with any dramatist (living or dead) who would it be and why?

Edward Albee. I know he’d challenge my mind, wouldn’t refrain from saying fuck and would make me laugh.

Why is theater important to you?

Theatre is freedom. Freedom to show another face of the world, one we prefer to keep hidden. In doing so we uncover emotion and truth. And to achieve that, you can’t compromise. You can’t settle for less. I know I won’t. If I did, I’d stop caring for it.

What advice do you have for new playwrights?

The same one I’d give to myself – trust your guts and go for it. That’s if you have talent. If not, this question is irrelevant.

Nina Mitrović (Croatia) was awarded a BA in Dramaturgy from the Academy of Drama Arts in Zagreb and an MA in Screenwriting from London Film School. Her award-winning plays and monologues have been produced professionally in Croatia, Austria, Germany, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. They include: Encounter (2012), Javier (part of Zagreb pentagram project, 2009), This bed is too short or just fragments (2004.), When We Dead Slay Each Other (2004), An Instant-Powder Family (2003), Neighbourhood Upside Down (2002). Her plays have been presented at international festivals in Berlin (Berliner Festspiele - Theatertreffen Festival), London (LabFest at Theatre 503), Sibiu (International Theatre Festival), Paris, Buenos Aires, Brno (Divaldofeste Yougo Festival) and New York (Playwright's Week Festival). Her work has been translated into ten languages and published in Croatian and international magazines and anthologies. She is also the author of radio plays and radio documentaries awarded and presented at international festivals in Berlin, Milan and Zagreb.