Dino Pešut: Air Raid

Running time: 60 minutes

Just before the end of the Yugoslav wars, two strangers meet in a deserted street. Moments before the city is shelled, they find themselves drawn into an encounter marked by passion, fear and longing. Twenty years later, their paths cross again in a Berlin nightclub, far from the battlefield, where techno music thunders instead of shells, in a world still shaped by the repercussions of the past.

Granatiranje (Air Raid) is a harrowing yet tender story of love, memory and survival. Employing a poetic, intimate and meta-theatrical form, the author weaves personal experience with reflections on war, identity and a generation that came of age in its shadow. At the heart of the play is not the explosion of a shell, but the question of how to maintain hope and closeness in the face of disintegration.

Dino Pešut (born 1990 in Sisak) is a Croatian playwright, dramaturg and novelist. He earned a degree in dramaturgy from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. A six-time recipient of Croatia’s prestigious Marin Držić Award, he has written numerous acclaimed works, including the play Granatiranje (Air Raid), which won first prize in 2019. Pešut’s plays have been staged at numerous theatres in Croatia and internationally. He has participated in the Emerging Playwrights residency programme at London’s Royal Court Theatre. In addition to playwriting, his novels Poderana koljena and Tatin sin have established him as an important voice in contemporary Croatian literature.

Luka Grbić (born 2000 in Belgrade) is one of the most prominent theatre and film actors of his generation, as well as a director and poet. He began his acting career as a teenager, playing Nenad Maraš in the film Južni vetar (South Wind, 2018), for which he received the Best Acting Debut Award at the Niš Film Festival that same year. He graduated in acting from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade. On stage, he has taken on a wide range of highly diverse and demanding roles, including Andrej in the acclaimed play Divlje meso (Wild Flesh, 2021, Belgrade Drama Theatre), the title role in Zeller’s The Son (2021, Atelje 212), Prince Myshkin in The Idiot (2022, Belgrade Drama Theatre) and Hamon in Antigone (2022, Belgrade Drama Theatre). He is distinguished by his remarkable ability to bring a wide variety of complex characters to life in both theatre and film. He has received several major acting awards, including the Sterija Award for Best Young Actor, bestowed by the “Dara Darinka Čalenić” Fund (2023). From 2023 to 2025, he was a permanent member of the ensemble at Atelje 212. He subsequently continued his artistic career in Slovenia, pursuing further studies in theatre directing at the University of Ljubljana’s Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (AGRFT). Grbić’s original project, Ide gas (2025, AGRFT), was created as part of his master’s programme.

Luka Bokšan (born 1991 in Celje) is a theatre and film actor. He graduated from the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (AGRFT) and is a recipient of the Prešeren Student Award (2019). While still a student, he joined the acting ensemble of the Slovenian People’s Theatre Celje (SLG Celje) and has worked as a freelance cultural professional since 2023. As a guest artist, he collaborates with various institutional theatres, and the productions in which he often takes leading roles regularly tour and receive awards at national and international festivals. Notable roles include Henry VI in Pet kraljev: K psihopatologiji neke monarhije (Kings, 2024, SLG Celje), Lawrence Durrell in Beograjski trio (The Belgrade Trio, 2024, Anton Podbevšek Theatre, Cankarjev dom) and Jože in In mnogi drugi … (And Many Others…, 2025, Prešeren Theatre Kranj, SLG Celje). On the independent scene, he works in performance, physical theatre and contemporary dance, while also establishing himself in film and television and as a compelling interpreter of the written word in Radio Slovenia literary programmes. His work is characterised by a systematic and in-depth approach, a strong stage presence, a pronounced sense of ensemble and a distinct flair for interaction with fellow performers.