Bogdan's War

“Bogdan’s War” was challenging and funny. It was deeply disturbing yet warmly human. Jeremy Paul’s new play about the war in Serbia may have appeared slightly unpromising to the Swanage theatre goer – and, what’s more, performed as a reading rather than a fully staged piece. But it turned out to be a really worthwhile evening’s entertainment (no charge and a glass of wine thrown in free)

The story of the rise of tensions in Belgrade before the war, the eventual bombing of the city and aftermath was told through the eyes of a group of residents and concentrated on their personal interactions. What we needed to know about the politics of the time was delivered to us in intelligent snippets as the protagonists began to understand it themselves.

The cast were excellent and made up in vocal skill what may have been lacking in visuals. For the record they were:
Roger Martin - Tomas
Tara Dominick - Galina
Kraig Thornber - Jiri
Boyd Thompson - Rade
Luke Atkins - Sasha

Patricia Garwood - Narrator.

Directed by the author


It was really refreshing to see good original theatre in Swanage where there are no public facilities or support for the arts. The play was read in the Vista bar and that proved an ingenious way of getting round the fact that we have no theatre available in the town (!) I sincerely hope we see many more projects like this.