What followed was his most significant drama to date, "Lutkino bespuće" (A Doll's Wasteland), Plakalo's 'reply' to Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House (Nora)". "Lutkino bespuće" earned Plakalo a reputation as the 'Ibsen of Bosnia' both at home and abroad. The play caught the eye of the Columbia University Ibsenologist, Professor Sandra Saari, and Norway's Ibsen Stage Festival, but another twist of fate put Plakalo's international plans on hold as his beloved Sarajevo came under siege in 1992.