The Scattered

After a long time, four sisters, whom life has taken from their native Zagreb to different corners of Europe, get together at the request of their mother, Barbara. In fact, they do not quite manage to do so, as one of the sisters got stuck at the airport in Edinburgh and joins them via video call. The sisters could not be more different from one another, and their family situation reflects today’s chaotic world—one that has become even more alienated in the wake of the pandemic, where, despite our digital connection, we are lonelier and more lost than ever before. The greatest divide lies between Saša, a progressive, lesbian playwright who is currently single, unemployed and lives in Berlin, and Sabina, who lives in London and is entirely devoted to her family and submits to her husband. She homeschools her children, is an anti-vaxxer, and as an online influencer promotes a patriarchal family model. Susana lives with her family in Glasgow and is a typical representative of today’s society, driven to the brink of a mental breakdown by political hypercorrectness. Sofia, whose husband is an ambassador, currently resides in Vienna; she has no children, feels unfulfilled, and is considering a divorce. Although life is anything but rosy, a certain optimism emanates from the sisters’ relationship, and despite their heated arguments, there is still room in the family for warmth and humour. The language of Tena Štivičić is dense and bitter. Her writing is distinguished by a masterful interplay of political relevance, emotional depth, a solid dramatic structure, and a pronounced female perspective.

Tena Štivičić (1977), an internationally acclaimed Croatian playwright, earned her Master’s Degree in Writing for Performance at Goldsmiths College in London after studying dramaturgy in Zagreb. She writes in Croatian and English. In 2015, she received the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Award for her play 3 Winters. All of her plays staged at the Ljubljana City Theatre to date have been highly acclaimed: Can't Escape Sundays! (2002), 3 Winters (2016), and Fireflies (2018). She wrote her latest play The Scattered in 2025 for the German theatre company Berliner Ensemble. For this play, she received the Helene Weigel Award, one of the most prestigious prizes in the German theatre world. Tena Štivičić has been Director of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb since 2024. 

Janusz Kica, a Polish director (1957), has directed throughout Europe during his prolific career, mainly in Germany and Austria, but also extensively in Slovenia, and is the recipient of numerous international awards and prizes. At the Ljubljana City Theatre, he staged The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov (2021), August: Osage County by T. Letts (2021), The Celebration by T. Vinterberg, M. Rukov, and Bo Hr. Hansen (2023), West Pier by B.-M. Koltès (2023), and Demons by F. M. Dostoevsky and G. Ferčec (2026).