The third Novi Sad Theatre Festival will take place from May 8 to 15 at the Youth Theatre in Novi Sad. The Festival will offer an exceptional program, mostly plays for young people, but also children. The plays will look into the important phenomena of modern young people - in the present, through the prism of events from the past, and all of them aim to teach us how to be better people in the near future.
THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK
May 8, 7:30 p.m., Big Stage
(Ages 11+)
The Koper Theater from Slovenia, arrives with a staging of the diary entries of Anne Frank, who began writing them when she was only 13 years old, in the hiding place of the attic of an office building in Amsterdam, where her family, together with the friendly family Van Daan, hid from the Nazis. The play is directed by Renata Vidič. This, today a classic read for young people and adults, is still an inspiration for creators who remind us of the horrors of the Second World War with Anna's story. The Diary of Anne Frank moved a choreographer and dancer Siniša Bukinac with its directness, who translated life in hiding, and especially Anne's personal experience of the world, first love and resistance to the assumed authority of adults, into dance steps. His dance reminds us of the insanity of wars - past and present.
THE SECRET DIARY OF ADRIAN MOLE
May 9, 2 p.m., Big Stage – U programskoj je 7 p.m.
(Ages 9+)
The Belgrade Theatre "Boško Buha", and director Tanja Mandić Rigonat, present the famous diary prose that portrays the life of an adolescent-intellectual in a hilariously entertaining way. Although the story is set in the eighties of the last century - in Great Britain, Adrian's problems are universal, regarding both time and space. He grows up in a dysfunctional family, goes through the divorce of his parents and his mother’s moving out of the family home; he endures bullying, his father loses his job, experiences the suffering and happiness that comes with the first great love. Adrian is convinced that he is a great writer in the making, even the rejections he receives from the BBC do not sway him. He shares his thoughts with the audience, leading them through the events filled with weirdly twisted characters of peers, parents, neighbors, teachers...
I, SISYPHUS
May 10, 5 p.m., Small Stage
(Ages 14+)
Bulgarian artists from the Puppet Laboratory from Sofia come with a play directed by Veselka Kuncheva, which explores the path of man's eternal return to himself. Ever since the ancient time, philosophers have discovered the absurdity of human behavior. Whatever path one takes, whoever they try to become, whatever path one tries to escape from – they always come back to themselves. Human life is a repetition of one and the same action: spiral, same, predictable. And such constant action forces us not to think about the meaning, but about the meaninglessness of human life.
HIC SUNT DRACONES
May 10, 7 p.m., Big Stage
(Ages 15+)
Czech Theater "Continuo" from Malovice and their director Pavel Sturac will present a visual poem with elements of magic, absurdity and grotesque. Their performance combines physical theater, animation of materials and objects, with the principles of visual art theater. This is a trip to an unknown place where nothing reminds us of our everyday waking life. It is the discovery of an area described by ancient cartographers as "Hic sunt dracones".
VELVET REVOLUTION
May 11, 7 p.m., Big Stage
(Ages 17+)
The Osijek Cultural Center, and director Vanja Jovanović, present the Festival with the story of Duško Radić, who is on the threshold of a big change in his life. After five years spent in the countryside, he finally returned to the city to finish his history studies. He has only one evening left before the defense of his diploma thesis on the topic of the French Revolution. It is the evening that marks the end of his student life and his entry into the world of adults. The moment that many students secretly shy away from, due to fear of the future, is just another ordinary day for Duško, because, unlike his peers, he has a plan. He has gone through all the literature, learned to cite all the relevant references and is ready to support his every thesis in front of a committee of professors. He has the foundations for the beginning of his own revolution, but the evening he planned to spend locked in his room before his diploma defense is interrupted by the arrival of unexpected guests....
THE CLOWN AND HIS CHILDREN
May 12, 11 a.m., Small Stage
(Ages 4+)
The Bulgarian Theatre "Atelier 313" from Sofia will perform a play directed by Zheni Pashova and Petar Pashov, the story of the children of the Clown, an artist who presents his art to young and old, the poor and the rich, on stage and in the square? Who gives him so much trouble and is also his greatest source of love and inspiration? Puppets, of course! Only they can make people laugh, be so naïve and at the same time so self-confident, be so stupid but always sincere and full of love, just like their creator and progenitor: the Clown. Children already consider puppets their friends, and the clown, we already know that he is a good-natured, naive and somewhat naughty man, but a friend to everyone - especially the youngest.
CITY OF LIGHTS
May 12, 7 p.m., Big Stage
(Ages 10+)
The Kragujevac Theatre for Children and Youth and the director of their play, David Zuazola, perform a special puppet show that seeks to explore new creative possibilities, which go beyond the traditional ways the puppet theater is based on. Thinking about the importance of involving the local community in the creation of this play, they wanted the audience to be more than mere observers, sitting in their seats waiting for the play to begin and end. That's why they take us on a journey where every viewer will gain a new, comprehensive experience...
HOTEL
May 13, 7 p.m., Big Stage
(Ages 10+)
The Bulgarian State Puppet Theatre from Stara Zagora and the director Lyubomir Zhelev, talking about their play, say that love at first sight is an instant fateful trust that we find in another human being and a state in which magnetism becomes an insatiable feast for the soul and senses. It is both a feather dancing in the wind, and a leaf falling on it. A flower of the desert, at the same time a rainbow in a raindrop...
LITTLE FRIDA
May 14, 11 a.m., Big Stage
(Ages 7+)
Zagreb City Theatre "Zar ptica" comes with an author's project by Jelena Kovačić and Anica Tomić, which tells us about friendship that makes us better, determination that makes us fearless and imagination that makes everything possible. It was inspired by the childhood of the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, one of the most fascinating artists of the 20th century. The seven-year-old Frida from this play takes us to Mexico, to Casa Azul - the Kahlo family house. There, inside the blue walls, Frida tries to strengthen her sick leg, which is why her peers shun her and call her "Frida the Wooden Leg". She spends her days hanging out with her parents and animals, and her only human friend is the fictional girl Brice. Frida still fantasizes about real friends, but those who will not make fun of her. Finally, one day, a real boy Pablo enters her life, who will only from time with Frida learn what it means to be a friend. This is a story about acceptance - of oneself and others.
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
May 15, 11 a.m., Big Stage
(Ages 7+)
The Italian Theater Zaches from Florence, in this play directed by Luana Gramegna, reveals to us that far from their mother's eyes, children push limits and face dangers and risks, but also their fears. The languages of dance, puppet theatre and music are delicate instruments used to tell a story. Dragons can be killed, or tamed, but either way we must know them, just as we must know ourselves so that we can overcome our fears. The brave ones are not those who are not afraid, but those who choose not to look away from fear.