Children of the Drama Studio of the Youth Theater – Pozoriste mladih, primary school age from first to fifth grade, were part of the "Young critics" workshops, designed to be one of the supporting programs of the "Novi Sad Theater Festival". During the workshops, after the plays, the children discussed the topics and dilemmas of the authors, the way of working, understanding the text and craft.
The participants of this studio are usually taught about acting and theater by actresses: Neda Danilovic and Slavica Vucetic, and at the workshops held during the festival, the guest educator and moderator was Divna Stojanov.Very interesting, open and witty questions were heard in the meetings of the youngest critics and creators. The children were able to find a way to articulate their feelings about the play they had seen and it seemed that in this pure effort they were more precise than the great critics.
"The workshop 'Young critics' is a kind of introduction to theater art," says Divna Stojanov. "It is intended for preschoolers and younger elementary school students, and its goal is to teach them basic theater concepts and provide tools with which they can watch, understand and analyze the play, and later discuss it. The idea of the workshops is for the youngest viewers to build critical thinking skills, to gain the confidence to express it and to learn to explain why they like the play or not," said Stojanov, who specifies that they always watch the plays together, and then try to go into as much detail as possible, breaking down a complex system such as a theatrical performance. Stojanov believes that children's meetings with artists at the "Novi Sad Theater Festival" are a valuable opportunity for children to ask the authors about their doubts and to exchange impressions and observations.
"Through the workshops, the theater takes on an educational role in a broader sense. In addition to being a place of performance, it also becomes a space for discussion, reflection, learning and exchange of opinions," concludes Stojanov. In addition to all that, after the play, the children also filled out questionnaires in which they wrote down their impressions of the play.