"A place with a soul," is what admirers tend to call Sarajevo's Youth Theatre. A place with an identity of its own, this institution is one of those special spots each city has. Its history began in 1950 when two theaters were founded in Sarajevo: the Children's Theatre and the Puppet Theatre. In the sixties, these two institutions merged and changed their name to the Youth Theatre, whose goal was clear from the beginning: to stage projects that would attract increasing numbers of young people.

The new playhouse changed its repertoire and brought in leading directors and artists from throughout the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Europe. Its two separate stages - one for puppet shows and the other for plays - hosted numerous productions and premiers, while its members toured the world.

The operation and development of the Youth Theatre was not hindered even by the war, which broke out in Bosnia-Herzegovina in mid 1992. As all of Sarajevo, the Theatre was subject to daily bombings and sniper fire. Under such circumstances, with half its members gone and in a dilapidated building, the Theatre kept its doors open, thereby "fully participating in the defense of the City and culture against aggression and primitivism," as one will hear them say today. The Theatre's director and actor Nermin Tulić was gravely injured at the onset of the war, loosing both his legs, but, as the playhouse itself, has successfully returned to the stage.

"The first time I, so to speak, stood again on the stage to act, I was terrified whether people would look at my face, at what I was playing, or at what was missing. It was my phobia, it kept me awake for nights. It was then that I won - when I finished my first show," said Tulić, describing his stage fright after being severely wounded.

Still, with a note of irony, he believes that wartime was "the best time for working in the theatre because," as he puts it, "then people loved the theatre." "I've said publicly on television, having risked being misinterpreted, that I regretted that the war was over," Tulić recalls.

Why theatre is essential

Having guarded the flicker of culture in Sarajevo throughout the three and a half years of conflict in Bosnia, the Youth Theatre continued to work after the war, enlarging its cast and garnering many awards.

Today, the playhouse stages shows through which its artists point to the changed lifestyle new times have brought. The current repertoire includes "S.U.R. Sajgon" (`The Saigon Coffee House'), a story of a coffee shop that is closed due to the construction of a large shopping mall, and the resulting end of a period and the way of life of the group of people who frequented it.

The play's director, Lajla Kaik?ija, explains that the "coffee shop brings a gallery of characters who have gathered for the last time at their old meeting spot." "This piece points to the ruthlessness of capitalism and modern times," she adds.

The comedy "Scapino" which is based on Molière's play "Les Fourberies de Scapin" and was on the repertoire until recently, dealt with similar issues, portraying society's corruption and materialism through the irony of its characters' everyday lives.

Many Internet discussion forums and blogs are dedicated to the work of the Theatre. One admirer wrote: "What I like most is their inner cooperation which is very much felt on stage. They thoroughly enjoy the show they are staging for the audience and come across as very harmonious."

Thanks to such a reputation, the Youth Theatre has partaken in every important festival in Bosnia and Herzegovina and has often gone home with an award. One of those festivals is Sarajevo's International Theatre Festival MESS, where the Youth Theatre won the Golden Laurel Award, the Golden Mask of Victory Critics' Award, and the Brave New World Award, among many others.

According to Youth Theatre's director and actor Nermin Tulić, the theater is essential because "we live in a time when every form of culture is faced with challenges, and if we fail to recognise the medium of theatre and its beauty, we become helpless, lazy, stupid, and dishonest."

"That's why I want to believe that our theatre's respectable years evoke the spirit of good, high-quality plays, [and] open the doors to all those flows which stream through us and even today feed us and make us better and happier," says Tulić.