2014 Sep. 15
> CULTURE

Performances from India, Japan, Russia, Serbia and Nine More Countries at the 21st International Festival of Children’s Theatres in Subotica

Fifteen performances from 13 countries of Europe, world and host country Serbia will be presented in the competition programme of the approaching 21st International Festival of Children’s Theatres in Subotica (September, 21-26).

Children from Subotica and those who come to the Festival from other parts of Serbia will have an opportunity to enjoy in extraordinary performances which, on the one hand represent represent all the diversity of the cultures they originate from in a rather interesting manner, while on the other hand they possess a high artistic quality.

“We have managed, in spite of the significantly reduced budget and the fact that we cannot afford to pay fees to participants and give money prizes, to draw exceptional performances of high quality”, as Slobodan Marković, Festival director and selector has pointed out, adding “Many theatrological names from all over the world have become attached to this Festival, which was characterized as one of the five most important events of its kind in the world, in opinion of Jacques Trudeau, Secretary General of UNIMA. To receive an award in Subotica from a jury of great renown is quite a recognition for any theatre and culture of its country. I have to mention there were six performances that belong to the very best, in terms of their quality and we were not able to bring them to the Festival because of our inability to cover the expenses. There is also a problem with space; as the auditoriums where the performances are presented do not have enough seats to receive all the interested spectators.”

The appearance on the Festival has become a matter of prestige as demonstrated by the fact that as many as 230 plays from 44 countries applied to participate in competition programme, and there is another detail: all the theatres participating in this year’s competition programme received nothing to cover their travel expenses and performance from the Festival. Some of them, like the theatre from Georgia, will be travelling for thousands of kilometres by bus in order to come to the Festival in Subotica.

“From their birth children hold on to the imperative of the play, and it represents the foundation of the overall theatre creation. If we manage to draw them to the play at their earliest age, they will carry that fascination inside them later, throughout their lives. However, there is no political will to support the spheres orientated to children, particularly in times as difficult as these are, when there are so many cutbacks in culture and in regard to our youngest”, says Ljubivoje Ršumović, President of the Festival Council.

At this year’s Festival, for the first time there will be guest performances from India and Georgia. String Puppet Play from Rajasthan by Vinod Bhatt’s company is a unique opportunity for our audience to become acquainted with the traditional Indian puppetry. The play is based on the Rajasthan folklore and it consists of seven acts. During the play, there is live folk music from the Thar Desert in Rajasthan, the largest Indian province. One of the narratives is a love story titled Laila and Majnu, about star-crossed lovers from Rajasthan, very similar to Romeo and Juliet. Participation of Vinod Bhatt’s company was enabled by the Indian Embassy in Belgrade and Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) from New Delhi.

Another interesting performance is expected from Georgian play The Argonauts, which belongs to adventure genre and whose dramatic composition was specially made for Batumi State Puppet and Youth Theatre. The play is based on a well known subject from Greek mythology and presents the travelling of the Argonauts to Kolkheti (modern day Georgia) in search of Golden Fleece. In Kolkheti, the Argonauts find a civilization much more developed than theirs at the time, and that becomes the focus of the play.

We would also like to mention Boribon and Annipanni of Budapest Puppet Theatre – a story about a girl and her bear, one that many generations of children in Hungary have grown up listening to and which will undoubtedly bring pleasure to the Festival audience, children above all others. Then, there is the puppet performance Is Grandpa Wearing a Suit? of Novi Sad Youth Theatre, directed by Emilija Mrdaković, dealing with an issue of a child confronting the death of someone close (grandfather in this case.) After a long time there is a play from Montenegro at the Festival again, Podgorica City Theatre’s Ugly Duckling, where Igor Bojović, author of this new literary version of one of the most beautiful stories for children by H.C. Andersen, introduces subjects of differences, intolerance, the need of acceptance, in rather entertaining and poetic manner, but with underlying hope about beauty being in people’s hearts and human sensitivity.

Performances from Bulgaria, Japan, Montenegro, Estonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine will also be presented, as well as two from Serbia – the aforementioned Is Grandpa Wearing a Suit? and Breath by Subotica Children’s Theatre, directed by Veselka Kunćeva.

The performances will be presented at three different locations (Subotica Children’s Theatre, Subotica National Theatre – Jadran Stage and Dezső Kosztolányi Theatre), during September 22-26. The making of the repertoire was based on high professional standards, and the accent is on the diversity of forms and approaches. Every play is performed in its original language, while the precedence (in the selection) is given to the specific puppetry theatrical expression.

The following awards are given at the Festival: Grand Prix of the Festival for the Best Performance, Prize for the Best Direction, Prize for the Best Stage Design, Prize for the Best Original Music, Prize for the Best Puppet Design, Prize for Acting Skills (5 equal prizes) and Special Prize for the Original Expression and Fantasy. The recipients of the awards will be decided by a five-member international jury composed of theatre artists and theorists of world renown: Professor Boris Goldovsky, PhD (Russia), Professor Marek Waszkiel, PhD (Poland), Ljubivoje Ršumović (Serbia), Professor Siniša Jelušić, PhD (Montenegro) and György Hernyák (Serbia.)

Note: Admission to all programmes of the International Festival of Children’s Theatres is free for all visitors.