Truth in Translation: the Art of Directing

Sanja Mitrović is an internationally acclaimed theatre director and performer from Serbia (formerly Yugoslavia), living in Brussels. Sanja Mitrović's PhD in the arts consists of four live performances and a discursive section in which theatre is transformed into a field of artistic and social experimentation. In Truth in Translation: The Art of Directing, Mitrović closely observes the creative processes by which reality is transformed into fiction, the most diverse ways in which this happens, and its artistic potential. Mitrović analyses a number of her earlier productions, as well as new work she created as part of her PhD programme. She also reflects on more than twenty years of artistic practice, focusing specifically on the interpretation and representation of reality through documentary strategies, aesthetic choices and choreographic means. By interweaving personal narrative, historical context and practical experience, Truth in Translation: The Art of Directing offers both a retrospective view and a contemporary assessment of the affinities and ideas that shape Mitrović's idiosyncratic methodology. The artistic part of the PhD comprises the following productions: Danke Deutschland - Cảm ơn nước Đức (2019), with the ensemble of Schaubühne Berlin and the Vietnamese immigrant community in Germany; Working Songs No.1 (2021), in collaboration with Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, Demeter Calling (2021), co-produced by Koninklijke Vlaamse Schouwburg KVS); and Unter Grund (2023), for Schauspiel Dortmund.