Usual reason in Yugoslavia is lack of money. The city of Belgrade, which traditionally gives most of money, simply could not help the organizers, and then the state of Yugoslavia jumped in. Our theater has always been the institution that would overcome differences between politics of certain countries. It may be little early to talk about it, but during last year's NATO air strikes certain smart people from the authorities let the Yugoslav Drama Theater and the Center for Cultural Decontamination go to Germany and perform a play there. It proved important and necessary, and I personally regard it as a huge theater mission.
Theater is our entry ticket to the world.
Recently, voices have been raised in the world that the isolation of Yugoslavia is counter-productive. When the French found out that the Goethe Institute supports the arrival of a German play, they immediately accepted to finance the arrival of their performance. They would not be doing that, unless they knew what Bitef means and how well the Yugoslav theatergoing public is educated. The entire life of Jovan Cirilov is connected with the theater. When he was a boy, in his hometown of Kikinda, Jovan dreamed about the theater and his first memories are linked with the Kikinda doll theater.