The documentary play Girls is based on the confessions of women from three generations: performers in their thirties, mothers around sixty years old, and grandmothers around eighty years old. Girls explores themes of growing up, first sexual experiences, and the sexual education of several generations of women. It raises questions about what "losing virginity" means to different generations, how much they feared unwanted pregnancies, and what support they had in discovering their sexuality. Through the intimate excavation of family histories, the authors and performers encounter shame and pleasure, silence and openness, offering an invitation to discuss matters we don't usually discuss.
The play Girls portrays, through the personal stories of women, the change of times and socio-political systems. In Croatia today, the reproductive and sexual rights of women are seriously endangered, prompting the question of where we are headed and whether the upbringing of future generations will resemble that of our grandmothers.
IGRALKE COLLECTIVE
Igralke Collective consists of four friends and graduates of the Acting and Media Studies program at the Academy of Applied Arts in Rijeka, mentored by Rade Šerbedžija and Lenka Udovički: Sendi Bakotić, Ana Marija Brđanović, Anja Sabol, and Vanda Velagić. These professional actresses have backgrounds in social anthropology and cultural management, comparative literature, Russian studies, and speech therapy. They independently carry out their projects as authors and producers. In 2019, they presented the educational children's play Plastika fantastika, directed by Alisa Debelić. Following Bakice (2020), their most significant play was Crna vuna (2022). This documentary play was created in collaboration with users of the Association for the Homeless and Socially Endangered Persons "Oaza," who also perform in the play. Olja Lozica collaborated as a director, and Damir Urban is the author of the title song. The play Crna vuna was nominated for the 2023 "Baščovjek" Theater Humanism Award.