In February 2025, a quiet room in Novi Sad became a space of transformation. Over the course of seven days, young people from diverse backgrounds—students, volunteers, emerging artists—stepped into the unknown to explore gender, identity, and expression through theatre. Guided by practitioners and a guest physical theatre artist from Vienna, the UNMASC! workshops invited participants not only to reflect, but to embody their experiences.
What began with name circles and warm-ups grew into scenes shaped by movement, storytelling, and shared vulnerability. Letters from the past, silent objects with emotional weight, and moments of devised theatre became the language through which personal truths were revealed and reimagined.
Despite the challenges—limited space, conflicting commitments, and shifting expectations—the participants forged a collective path. Their own skills in dramaturgy, music, sound design, and scenography shaped the creative process, turning the workshop into a laboratory of authorship and artistic freedom.
UNMASC! in Novi Sad was not just a workshop—it was a reminder that when stories are given space to move, they can rewrite the rules of how we see ourselves, and each other.
