On Wednesday, November 27, 2024, the play YOUTH WITHOUT GOD was performed in the Linhart Hall of Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana, a co-production of the Zagreb Youth Theatre and the Montažstroj artist collective. This provocative and exciting play, directed by Borut Šeparović, awed the audience with its powerful message, incredible stage design and impactful acting.
The play is based on the motifs from the novel “Youth Without God” by Ödön von Horváth and the sociological study “Heroes: Mass Murder and Suicides” by Franco Biff Berardi. Through the prism of these works, the play explores the moral decay, the influence of the internet and digital culture on young generations, and their alienation and isolation in contemporary society.
Through a dramatic story about young men who, on a school trip, experience a power play with a tragic outcome, the play raises questions about what happens when community ceases to function, and individualism and self-promotion become the new ideals.
One of the key motifs of the play is the depiction of the mechanisms by which the digital world shapes young people. Inspired by Berardi’s sociological analysis, the play introduces us to a world where young people find refuge in video games, virtual spaces and radical ideas as the real world increasingly loses its meaning and significance.
The play YOUTH WITHOUT GOD raises numerous important questions that concern all of us, but especially the youth: how to tackle the consequences of digitalization and alienation? How to fight against feelings of hopelessness and loneliness?
