SRĐA

pronounced ser-ja

         SRĐA is a Yugoslavian-American creative/director and producer. Born in Sarajevo months before the Bosnian War broke out, SRĐA and family fled as refugees before resettling to Des Moines, Iowa.   Now, SRĐA lives and works between New York and Los Angeles, Europe and beyond. 

SRĐA‘s work includes theatrical productions, films, televsion, experiential events, music videos and more. SRĐA’s bold style draws inspiration from club culture and centers queer + third-culture themes.

SRĐA’s journey began working with Moisés Kaufman + Tectonic Theater Project on the New York premiere of The Laramie Project Cycle at BAM, before starting a career on Broadway working as the Assistant Director of the Tony-nominated Deaf West Spring Awakening revival and Terrence McNally’s Mothers and Sons followed by the world premiere of the New York Spectacular starring The Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall.  

SRĐA has created new + revived works with Lincoln Center, Ford’s Theatre, ArsNova, LaMaMa and Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater and develops new works with drag performers, comedians, musicans and more. SRĐA’s work has been seen across the country and around the globe, on-and-off Broadway, regionally and on sailing international waters with Disney Cruise Lines. As the resident director of Theatre for One, SRĐA’s work has been described as "creating an exhilarating sense of aliveness" by The Guardian.  SRĐA is currently working on writing a first screenplay.

SRĐA has been profiled as a featured artist for POND-Mag and named "Who’s Next" by NEXT Magazine. SRĐA‘s writings have been featured on HowlRound and Huffington Post. 

SRĐA is an alumni of the Lincoln Center Director's Lab, Civilians R&D Group, 24 Hour Plays Nationals and an innaugral member of Directors' Lab Mediterranean.

Pronouns: (name/none/any)

“I will be watching SRĐA’s work and so will a lot of people.” ― Terrence McNally

          

VOTE. P.S.A. 

             Vote. was a 20-episode digital P.S.A. series created by SRĐA in the wake of the 2020 Election. Filmed in two months + across five states, Vote. was released in the 20 Days leading up to the 2020 Election accumulating over 400,000 views across Instagram & TikTok and shares by Ariana Grande + A Late Show with Stephen Colbert. 

Built as a time capsule of the moment before the election, each episode was developed alongside a featured creator from the worlds of drag, music, comedy, TikTok and beyond.

Vote. featured BeBe Zahara Benet, Hilton Dresden, Bandits on the Run, Julia Shiplett, Sasha Smith, Marty Miller, Lauren Karaman, Megan Mitchell, Natalie Llerna, Yoke Lore, Stefani Robinson, Marcos González, Misha Lambert, Gabe Gibbs, Darius the Barbarian, Grace Baldridge, Joshua Charles Parker, Rachel Brunner, Shea Gomez and MoHeart.

Produced by Maggie Renshaw. Edited by Drew van Steenbergen. Original Music by The Canteen Killa. Motion Graphics by Matt Rudinksi. Coloring by Johan Anderson. In Partnership with YNB and Better Know A Ballot.

🗳  Watch here. 

“The one thing you've got going: your one vote.” ― Shirley Chisholm

BANDITS ON THE RUN

              The Band at the End of the World is a new apocolyptic musical film by folk-funk trio Bandits on the Run directed by SRĐA. Filmed on location at the abandoned Goodwill Theatre in Johnson City, New York, The Band at the End of the World was released in October 2020 as a part of Prospect Theatre Company’s VISION Series.  

The near-future musical fable follows the Bandits as they discover a mysterious, glowing radio on thier journey through a new landscape devoid of human contact and music. 

The film features performances by Adrian Blake Enscoe, Sydney Torin Shepherd and Regina Strayhorn. Cinamatography + Editing by Bart Cortwright. Lighting Design by Adam Honoré. Sound Design by Marian Gomez Villota. Scenic + Projection Design by Lianne Arnold. 

The Band at the End of the World is an official selection of the New York Indepdent Theatre Film Festival. 

👻  Watch here.

“Well, that was spooky.” ― Roy Dodger

         

NUBIA

              NUBIA is an all-Black drag spectacular created by and featuring five of the most celebrated queens in RuPaul’s Drag Race history, BeBe Zahra Benet, Bob The Drag Queen, Mo Heart, Peppermint and Shea Couleé.  

Built as an uapologetic rallying cry that #BlackQueensMatter and staking its place as the first ever drag-tour with an all-Black cast, NUBIA made its sold-out world premiere in March 2020 blowing the roof off the Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn.  Details will be released soon about upocoming performances. 

NUBIA was directed by SRĐA. Creative Direction by Randall Star + Dan Polyak. Choreography by Rich James + Mel. Lighting Design by Rob Ross Design. Produced by Robb Nanus + Sally Cade Holmes.

👑  More here. 

“We are inviting you into our space and allowing you to experience who we are, which is Black royalty.” ― Mo Heart

THEATRE FOR ONE

            SRĐA has worked as a resident director of Theatre for One (T41), Chirstine Jones’ one-on-one theatrical experience since 2018. SRĐA’s work with the booth has brough SRĐA around the country and world, directing singular audience experiences and leading residencies and master-classes in the theatrical techniques of Theatre for One. 

SRĐA recently launched the European premiere of Theatre for One alongside Octopus Theatricals and Landmark Productions at the Cork Midsummer Festival followed by the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. The work was described “unutterably powerful. Moving, intimate, visceral, the superlatives line up like people queueing for tickets.”  

SRĐA has led residencies at the Princeton University, the University of Arkansas, and Fairfield Universty, taught master-classes at the American University in Beirut and Loyola University and worked as an artistic consultant on Theatre for One’s most recent virtual residencies. 

♦️ More info here. 

“’Immersive doesn’t even begin to describe this.” ― The New York Times