On 3 November, something important for the entire community occurred in the packed auditorium of the Sarajevo War Theatre – art became a place where vulnerability is worn with dignity, where personal experiences become collective responsibility, and where silence about violence and oppression is no longer an option. The forum theatre play “Maybe it’s just a phase” created a space where the real lives of LGBTI persons had a voice, body and spotlight worthy of their truths.

The play came as a result of several months of activist, artistic and psychosocial work done by the Association Progress, supported by the Council of Europe. Forum theatre is special in that the audience is not merely an observer. During the play “Maybe it’s just a phase”, everyone in the room was able to stop a scene, intervene, suggest a different outcome and thus actively participate in the narrative.

The play highlighted the problems found in our environment: absence of support from families, schools and institutions; failure to recognise digital dangers; and a wide gap between formal legal frameworks and the actual lives of LGBTI people. This initiative by the Association Progress helped turn personal stories into collective learning, and a stage into a space for social transformation.

The play was watched by over 60 spectators, about twenty of whom took part by intervening during the forum theatre. They suggested alternative outcomes and questioned their own, as well as societal, behavioural patterns. Five of them had the courage to go up to the stage and become part of the forum, get into character, open new perspectives and present their own ideas to others. This level of participation demonstrated the very core of the Theatre of the Oppressed – that no one is merely a spectator, but a potential changemaker.

One of these participants from the audience, after his intervention, said something that echoed louder than any applause:

“All of us sitting here have a responsibility to shape our reality, through the upbringing we give to our own children, or indirectly, the children of this society and the youth we are working with. Empathy is something that needs to be learned, cherished and shared. In this room, we have the potential for understanding and love.”

This play went beyond a cultural event. It was a social moment, and a loud and clear call to get engaged, become aware, question and push for solidarity and change.

The play was supported by the Council of Europe through its project “Combating discrimination, hate, and racism in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” which is implemented under the Council of Europe’s Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina 2022-2025.