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Hic sunt - four Czech She-dragons

Four Czech female artists - dragons, from Malovice, Czech Republic, on the third evening of the festival, revealed to us hitherto unseen expanses of human creativity. In the play of Sara Bokini, Katerina Shobanova, Lyudmila Jeshutova and Diana Kvaja, artistically condensed by the director Pavel Štraurač, nothing resembled the everyday life.

Combining physical theater with object animation and visual theater principles brought a touch of some bizarre grotesque magic and absurdity that we didn't have the opportunity to see in our country, at least not on the theater stage, since it is, admittedly, present in everyday life.

After the play, they said that the play was created in a multi-month process that began with detailed, almost three-month research. By the time the whole thing came together, another two months had passed. They said that it was important for them to be accurate, so that what they found as flexible material found the right place on the stage - in them, and between them, during the creative process itself.

Since there is a lot of physical theater, it was also important not to hurt each other. In that sense, trust was crucial. Only when you feel safe on stage can you be creative, all four agreed. When asked if during the work process they learned something new about the female energy that exudes the play, they said that the fragility of the colors of the female energy was a new discovery for them, that flamboyance is what helped them get to know each other better during the process, but also themselves.

They also discovered that at every moment of the process of creating the play "Hic sunt dracones" they had to know which one was in which emotional and physical state.

Although the performance is entirely female and, according to the feeling of many viewers, it celebrates the principle of femininity, it is written by a man - Pavel Štaurač, while the music, which is normally performed live on the stage in the Czech Republic (not the case for this performance), is also played by a man, Pavel Štaurač.

Snežana MIletić

Foto: Milana MIlovanov

Stefan Dodurov: We live in the time of cowards

This way and that way, it can, and it can't, and always some stumbling block. And there is always one to be, but also not to be, and why not be when you can be. And most importantly, why can't people fly? Why? On the third evening of the Festival, however, one person flew, in the play "I Sisyphus" by the Puppet Laboratory from Sofia.

Directed by Veselka Kuncheva, we watched a philosophical reflection on human meaninglessness. In fact, of constant repetition. Because no matter which way a person goes, they come to the same place. Even when they try to escape: up - down - left - right - spiral or whatever, they are always met by something the same and predictable.

All of us Sisyphus, artistically devoted, were played by Stefan Dodurov, otherwise a drama actor who, as he admits, found this to be quite an interesting theatrical experience. His playing was eclectic, but also very witty, at times even shockingly witty. After the play, he talked about Sisyphus and everything around him...

How long have you been playing this show and how does it feel when you play Sisyphus?

I am the third actor to play in this monodrama, which has been on stage for 11 or 12 years. I have been playing since 2019. Veselka Kuncheva was auditioning, she wanted to recreate the performance with three different puppets, and as I am a drama artist, it was very difficult for me to decide if I could take on the responsibility of doing such serious work. I succeeded, and in every performance, I always have to succeed, because it's always a little difficult. You should always push a little, give something more.

How is it for an actor, or a human being in general, when he recognizes Sisyphus in himself? You had to find at least a few of them for this occasion...

Sisyphus lives in each of us. Every person has a need to go somewhere, to take a step higher, to outline some goal that they would have to reach, to expand, or even break some boundaries, to go beyond them. The point of this piece is that life, despite all the difficulties and sufferings, is worth living. And it's better to do it with a smile. The point of persistence, and of living in general, is not the goal, but the effort to do something. And while you push, you laugh at fate. That's the point. It seems to me that in this sense this piece is cleverly and wisely constructed, between me and me, between the demons in the play. It is both a story about the physical and the metaphysical.

During the creative process, did you manage to answer the question that can be heard in the play itself - why can't people fly?

Because a human being is just that. They want to fly, but they can only fly in their dreams. In fact, because they can't fly, people do ingenious things. We humans, despite our limitations, can do great things. That's why the gods love us.

And what can puppets do that humans can't?

The answer continues to the previous one... Humans have limitations, and puppets have even more. We give them life, and imagine that they are alive. Through them, to ourselves, we tell some stories about a better life. That's how we try to make people better. We try to convince them that everything can be better. Puppets help us tell better stories.

Why are people today less and less able to tell stories, they are lagging in it, and this is very visible in art, theater, and even in life... In Serbian theater it is a serious problem... Maybe it is better in Bulgaria?

I see it myself. The problem is that we constantly want to say something new, to invent some new sensation, and there is nothing new. We need to tell old stories in new ways, to breathe new life into old, archetypal stories. So that those small - big stories become a part of the new time, of our life. We Bulgarians have an expression that we should not discover hot water (reinvent the wheel)...

There is the same proverb in Serbian, but we still keep doing it...

And the Bulgarians too. We need to return to classical values, to remind ourselves of them, but to talk about them in ways that belong to this time. Today, we often look at things that are apparently shiny, they have something on top, some topping, they also have some spices, but there is nothing inside. It's filled with emptiness. It is difficult, of course, to say something new, and have it come from basic stories. There is a catch. The cubism invented by Picasso came from tradition, after all. Making something like that is difficult and rare.

In that context, is it more important to have an idea or to be brave?

Both. People who say new things, the so-called avant-garde, they are, as the French word says, in the front lines and see something that others do not. They discover something that, if it connects with people, opens up new worlds. Being smart and brave enough to do it is not easy at all. That's why we have to be persistent, to constantly work on it, not to give up and not to judge people when they make a mistake, when they fail, because it's really hard.

As an artist, are you scared of today's world? Terrible stories are happening in it - even as we speak.

How could I not be... Of course I am. I think we live in a time of cowards. Scared people are afraid, and a weak person is a dangerous person. I am glad that now there are no conflicts in the Balkans like there were before and I hope that we have learned a lesson. I'm grateful for that and I think about it all the time, because we're really in a bit of a tailspin here. History doesn't repeat itself here, it rewinds...

Snežana Miletić

Portret umetnika: Milana Milovanov

Fotografija iz predstave: Aleksander Bogdan Tompson

Theatrical view: Adrian Mole and his diary

Like all adolescents, Adrian Mole has only one question - why do I have it the worst in the world. Sue Townsend’s books "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole (aged 13 3/4)", "The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole", "The True Confessions of Adrian Mole" marked, comforted, encouraged and cheered up the most sensitive years of many teenagers. Although The Secret Diary is still read today, it is also coming back to the world of today's youth with this performance of the "Boško Buha" Theatre.

Playwright Milena Depolo and director Tanja Mandić Rigonat chose key events from the life of a lower-class English teenager in the era of Margaret Thatcher for the play "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole". The specific era of Thatcherism, the punk movement and rebellion, which was refracted through street art, clothes, music, books, was retained in the play. The problems of Adrian Mole (Mladen Lero) are similar to modern local youth - he has pimples, his parents are divorcing, he suffers violence at school, he is unhappily in love. Most of the problems are solved by themselves, and Adrian points out that life is a succession of good and bad events and you just have to survive them. As Adrian's diaries were an integral part of my growing up and maturing, and the cynical, witty scoundrel Adrian Mole is one of my favorite literary heroes, I admit my non-objectivity and bias towards books, so I leave the floor to the audience.

Divna Stojanov

AUDIENCE IMPRESSIONS:

"The show is great! I am 13 years old and I completely found myself in the character of Adrian Mole. Very similar things happen to me and my friends." ( age 13)

"I really liked the show! Especially the end when Adrian says that life is made up of both good and bad events, and that the bad will pass. That comforted me." (aged 13)

"Next year is my 13th birthday and it means for me to see what awaits me in life. Just so I don't get pimples! Oh, if only I didn't have pimples!" (aged 12)

"I didn't like it when Adrian and Pandora kissed. They could have just hugged each other, that's enough." (aged 8)

"It was really exciting for me! A lot happens, but everything turns out great in the end!" (aged 11)

P.S. Theatrical view is not intended as a theatre critique, nor as a presentation of the play, but as a set of impressions of a playwright and the audience immediately after watching the play.

Mladen Lero: Writing a diary is a good habit

Mladen Lero was the enchanting Adrian Mole in the play "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole", which was performed by the "Boško Buha" Theatre on the second night of the Novi Sad Theater Festival. The play is directed by Tanja Mandić Rigonat.

This young actor is a graduate of the Belgrade Academy of Arts, from the class of professors Milan Nešković and Tihomir Stanić (Stanić was later replaced by Nikola Rakočević). The audience noticed him not only in the theatre, but also in the series "Unclean Blood: Sin of the Ancestors" and "My Father's Murderers".

After they performed the play, the entire team was occupied by the children of the Youth Theatre Drama Studio, who were firing up a bunch of different questions. The most intriguing ones were about the kiss seen on stage: what was it like, was it difficult, expected or unexpected, how much exercise... Among the questions were: how do you learn the text, are actors sad when they get a role they don't like, is the job of an actor difficult, what advice would you give to future actors, what do they do behind the scenes during the play, do they joke or closely follow the performance... It seemed that the enjoyment of asking questions and giving answers, which was accompanied by bursts of laughter, was mutual.

After the children, it was time to ask some other questions... What kind of diaries are written today - are they secret or public, how are cultural differences in growing up situations understood today, which word should be looked up again in the dictionary, because it has disappeared from our life and behavior and in the end, what does the future bring for young people?

Are diaries written today, secret or public on social networks? What are they for?

It's a good habit to keep a journal. That way we can have some retrospective of the things we went through. Because when we go through certain things, at some point they seem huge, insurmountable and unsolvable. While they are happening, we think we will reconsider them, but then we forget about it because new experiences come along. That's why journaling is a pretty good thing for human development. I've never been regular at it, it takes a bit of discipline. Sometimes it seemed to me that it was very important to write it, and then I got into some moods in which I rejected the idea of writing a diary, because it seemed less important to me. I was less willing, I had no motivation - and I should have.

The play mentions the cultural divisions that once determinedly separated one group of people from others, based on what music they listened to, how they dressed, behaved, after and how they lived and what values they supported... The world today is shattered into many different segments that nothing is strong enough to be the common denominator of a group... How does it all seem to you?

I would say that it did not shatter, but that globalization made everything the same. Things no longer have anything to be measured against. There used to be less content and information, so people grouped themselves in such ways, and now it's just all culture - pop culture, if that's culture.

In fact, entertainment is often misrepresented to us as culture...

Well... Spectacle... Hedges says it well (Chris Hedges, author of the book "Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle") - the triumph of spectacle and the end of literacy.

Given the kind of world we live in and what we have forgotten how to do - to be cooperative, empathetic, sensitive to the other, what word should we look up in the dictionary to try and snap out of the downhill trend? You talk about one in the play...

Love is the key, but people are alienated from each other. All those things you mentioned are the result of alienation. We have the illusion that communication is available to everyone, in all parts of the world and that it connects people to each other, and it seems to me that this has resulted in alienation and that this assumption of closeness we can create through social networks or the Internet has not led to better communication between people, but exclusively did the opposite.

What is the situation in Belgrade with performances for teenagers? Here, in Novi Sad, there are almost none. Why doesn't anyone think about those generations?

I think the scene for young people, as we usually call it here, and I have a little experience with such plays, as I play "The Boy with the Suitcase" in "Radović", where we are now doing "The Shining Star on the Ceiling"; I think the theatre policy makers overlook that scene. They mostly focus on the plays they can sell best and then the population you are talking about is not interesting to them, there are very few of them.

At the end of the play, after a series of funny situations and laughter, which was heard in the audience, the actors shouted a sentence that almost made some in the audience cry... What is the future for young people? What is the future in a country where children kill children...

It is ungrateful to talk about that. I think that anyone who has a conscience and approaches things a little more seriously and deeply has the reluctance to talk about it. I wouldn't dare to talk about it either. And as for the future of young people, I would relieve it a little... Because... I don't think that in some other times the future for young people was better, or at least it didn't seem better to those young people. Those problems, both Adrian's in the 1980s and in our times, are quite universal. The technological boom has certainly pushed the boundaries in society, but I think young people are always in trouble.

Snežana Miletić

Young critics: Face to face with creators

Having finished their performance and after receiving their well-deserved applause, the team of the play "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole" showed up in front of the most important audience - face to face with the participants of the Drama Studio of the Youth Theatre who asked them a variety of questions.

The most intriguing thing seemed to be the one about the kiss seen on stage, how it was, whether it was difficult, expected or unexpected. Among the questions were questions about how to learn the text, whether actors are sad when they get a role they don't like, whether the work of an actor is difficult, what advice they would give to future actors, what they do behind the scenes during a play, if there is time to joke or they carefully follow the play... The conversation was coordinated by Divna Stojanov.

The Festival Jury – theatre’s ever watchful and caring eye

The jury of this year's Festival consists of three exceptional women who feel the theater in the most subtle ways. Director Sonja Petrović, actress Marija Radovanov and costume designer Zdenka Lacina Pitlik give their utmost, meticulous care to the festival

Young critic about "The Diary of Anne Frank"

I really liked the play, because the actors and dancers performed it very well. Every move was great! While I was watching the play, I had the feeling that I was Ana. The actors conveyed so strongly the emotions and events that affected the Frank family. Since I don't like war movies, I thought I wouldn't like a war-themed play either, but in "The Diary of Anne Frank" nothing terrible is shown on stage, yet it is perfectly clear that time was terrible for Anne, her family and the Jews. I recommend this play to everyone, because I learned a lot and everyone should know about the unfortunate fate of the little girl Anna.

Nina Klabučar (member of the Drama Studio of the Youth Theatre)

Theatrical view: Anna and her diary

Symbolically, the evening before the Victory Day, the day when Nazi Germany signed the capitulation in World War II, the dance performance The Diary of Anne Frank, directed by Renata Vidič, choreographed by Siniša Bukinac and the Koper Theatre ensemble from Slovenia, opened the third Novi Sad Theater Festival. A few years ago, in Slovenia, The Diary of Anne Frank was removed from the list of official mandatory literature in primary school. The book is left as an optional reading title and whether it will be read would depend on a subject teacher. That is why it is extremely valuable that the Koper Theatre still continues to convey this tragic testimony.

Ana (Tina Gunzek) as Ana the narrator narrates parts from the diary, while Ana the Diary (Tjaša Bucik), Ana's family and other Jews hidden in the attic (Siniša Bukinac, Vito Colangelo, Patricija Crnković, Noemi Bak and Luka Ostrež) dance the events. The most exciting moments of the play are those in which the action and the narration are in counterpoint. The narrowness of the hiding place and the feeling of claustrophobia, is very clearly evoked through music (Mirko Vuksanović) and video projections. The selection of the text from the Diary very successfully balances the information about the war, the crimes committed by the Nazis and Ana's inner world woven from teenage rebellion, reflections on love and happiness.

Learning about the wars and past demise may prevent future wars or make us speak out about those happening today bringing destruction of civilians and children.

Divna Stojanov, playwright

AUDIENCE IMPRESSIONS:

"I understood everything, it's just not clear to me why Hitler hated the Jews." (age 9)

"I really liked the dance! It's really good!" (age 11)

"I'm in shock! We learned a little about this at school, but I didn't know it was really like this." (age 11)

"I would like to see that hiding place. And those eight people. I barely tolerate to share a room with my brother." (age 9)

"The choreography is perfect. Even though the actress was speaking, everything was clear through movement." (age 15)

"It was very sad for me, but I'm glad that I now know about Anne Frank." (age 10)

"I don't know how the dancers managed to dance to such a poignant theme." (age 10)

P.S. Theatrical view is not intended as a theater critique, nor as a presentation of the play, but as a set of impressions of a playwright and the audience immediately after watching the play.

Divna Stojanov

Interview: Renata Vidič, director of Koper's "Anne Frank"

What does it look like when pain is danced, when the longing for freedom is danced, what kind of diary of today's world pain could be written every day, and where can a person save oneself from today's world; these are the questions for Renata Vidić, the director of the play "The Diary of Anne Frank", which opened the 3rd Novi Sad Theatre Festival on the stage of the Youth Theatre.

The Slovenian director says that the common denominator of all the questions raised is freedom, which it is the key to everything - and that is why we must fight for it. She does it on the theater stage.

The time we live in is not as dramatic as that of Anne Frank’s, but even at this moment there are parts of the world where it is difficult and almost impossible to live. At the moment when we are talking, some people in Gaza, Ukraine, in other parts of the world, are in some basements or attics and fear for their lives and the lives of their children... If you were writing a diary like that of Anne Frank, what would you write about this time in it?

I think that Anne Frank chose the form of her diary well, to write to her friend. And the diary that I would write would also be a kind of dialogue, because writing a diary is always like a dialogue, you talk about yourself - you think about yourself and the things around you, about the world you live in and write about it, but always before you write, you think about what you are going to say, you think about your feelings. That self-reflection is still very important today. Self-reflection is a way to go through life so that you know what you want, to see injustice, whether it concerns you or someone else, and to speak about it. Today we live at a very fast pace, the rhythm is astonishingly fast, we live with photos and thumbnails on our phones... Man is no longer a man, we are not the being we once were.. Things are snatched from our hands and we don't know how to understand them. ...

At what point did you realize that you would do Anne Frank as a dance performance?

It was actually the idea of Katja Pegan, director of the Koper Theatre. She suggested that we do a play about Anne Frank since the book had been taken out of the reading list at schools. And she also suggested the dance format, asking me to write a dramatic template, a kind of script, so that Siniša Bukinac would have material for choreography.

Why do you think The Diary of Anne Frank was removed from Slovenian reading list? Why do we today, everywhere, seem to be ashamed of those people who are symbols of the struggle for freedom that we live in today...

In Slovenia, the argument was that it is no longer relevant... And let's look at Gaza, Ukraine, Africa, Iran, Iraq... These horrors are still happening to people. We still live in the age of fascism. Not all of us, but quite a lot of us. We have those skinheads, those fools from football games, neo-Nazism is on the rise, as well as right-wing parties in all of Europe. Let's say, our Slovenia is very xenophobic. We don't like foreigners. Our policy is bad rhetoric towards foreigners. Illegal emigrants pass through Slovenia and people would not help them.

The Slovenian writer Goran Vojnović wrote a novel on that topic - "Chefurji raus". We - people, actually do not tolerate anything that is new and unknown, we do not accept new people, ideas, new opportunities... We only talk about change, and since change is a responsibility, we actually long for the status quo. Is it different in the area of art and theatre, for example?

The theatre, it seems to me, is still a place of freedom. At least that's been my experience, wherever I've worked. Not only freedom on stage, but freedom of ideas. Theatre works in various ways. It is a space of acceptance of communication and an extended hand, sometimes even despite some circumstances. It is above all a space of freedom.

What is the most interesting topic for you in Slovenia, in the theater today?

Several times during our conversation I said the word - freedom. It is the highest value for me. It is my main subject. Freedom of the individual and society in general.

Is it present among the actors, do you feel it in the actors you work with?

There is no actor without freedom. If they did not feel the desire for freedom, they would not be actors.

Do you know someone who fights for freedom - speech, action, freedom of thought?

I know. Every artist is a freedom fighter.

Snežana Miletić

Listening to a troubled world

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.

Supporting programs

This year's Novi Sad Theatre Festival will have six supporting programs: two promotions of professional books, promotion of the new department of the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, promotion of a poetry collection, a Forum discussion about what young people would like to see in the theater, the Youth Theatre play "Crime and Punishment", and the Forum of Young Critics.

Promotion of books by Professor Livija Kroflin: "The Soul in the Object" and "Puppetry Wonders of the World"

The book and textbook "Puppetry Wonders of the World" is a follow-up to "The Soul in the Object" from 2020, which was awarded the Demeter Prize. While in the first book, the author found the core of puppetry in the depth and soul of the puppet, in "Puppetry Wonders of the World" it emerges from it and expands to spaces that become places of infinite miracles when meeting the puppet. The author managed to turn a large amount of representative puppet, theater and other material into an understandable and concise text that approaches the reader intimately, with personal anecdotes, interesting remarks and witty miniatures. With transforming that numerous information, views and attitudes into a superb literary experience, the text gets under the reader's skin.

Promotion of the Master's study of Puppetry, Academy of Arts in Novi Sad

In the year it celebrates its fiftieth birthday, the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad accredited a two-year master's degree program called Puppetry. The course books, content and method of teaching will be presented at the promotion. Those present will be able to talk to the professors who will be teaching at these master's studies, and the studies will be promoted by: Vesna Ždrnja, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Novi Sad, Professor of Puppetry Saša Latinović, Teaching Assistant in Puppetry, actor Slobodan Ninković, and Professor Ivana Mijić Nemet, who will teach the following subjects: History of Puppetry, Literature for Children and Youth and Drama for Children and Youth.

Meeting with children's poet Duško Domanović and promotion of his book "Perfect Day"

Duško Domanović, a poet with a refined sense of the world in which everything important to the human soul is disappearing, will promote his exceptional children's book "Perfect Day" in front of the audience of the Novi Sad Theatre Festival. This Domanović's, a kind of poetic exercise room for smiling, addresses our will to participate in the game of meaning. The meeting between children and the poet will be an opportunity to ask questions about how to become a poet, how to write, where inspiration comes from, what is important to write well. Duško Domanović graduated from the Department of Philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad. He also worked as a journalist, and instead of listing the titles of his excellent books and numerous awards he received, it is more important to point out that what he writes for children today should definitely have its place in future textbooks, as a way of giving his books new life. Along with the poems he writes for adults, his work will definitely be proof that even in this time, there were virtuous people, who saw well and heard well.

Performance "Crime and Punishment"/Youth Theatre, Novi Sad

What is crime today, is every crime followed by a punishment, is every perpetrator punished or are the victims only punished - by inaction? Why are some crimes relativized depending on the social and cultural frameworks or people’s stations there? These are just some of the questions that the team of the play "Crime and Punishment" of the Youth Theatre dealt with. The play, which was inspired by the novel by F. M. Dostoyevsky, is a puppet, interactive, monodrama for high school students, but also for fans of the Russian master of the written word, in which the author duo Mrdaković/Milković tried to grasp all the traces of Raskolnikov's "schemes" in modern society and find out if there is a moral transformation today, if there is repentance? The play was directed by Emilija Mrdaković based on the dramatization of Fyodor M. Dostoyevsky novel by Teodora Marković. Starring: Aleksandar Milković (Raskolnikov) and Dragana Ilić (Sonya - via video).

Forum "What are young people looking for in the theatre?"

In Serbia, on one hand, there is a theatre scene for children, as well as numerous theatre festivals for children. In certain repertoires, there is also quantitatively very rich production. On the other hand, there is also a diverse theatre scene for adults. What is missing is the link between these two scenes, and that is theatre for young people. And precisely in that - let's call it - bridge between plays for children and plays for adults, the theatre loses its audience. It is unfair to expect that someone who saw the last performance of "Little Red Riding Hood" or "Pinocchio" in their childhood returns to the theatre in 10 to 15 years to see Shakespeare, Nušić or a contemporary drama. For a whole decade, if not more, there is no age-appropriate content so how can we expect those young adults to come back to the theatre later. In the teenage years, affinities develop, habits are formed, and interests are chosen that are nurtured and maintained in the adult phase of life. It seems that the young, even if they want to, cannot develop an interest in the theatre, simply because most plays do not communicate with them. With such practice, the theatre loses its audience. Likewise, it is illogical to blame and criticize today's younger population for having "wrong values" and turning to potentially inappropriate content when different one is rarely offered to them, at least not in the theatre. Maybe some teenagers would love to go to the theatre, but it rarely speaks to them. Theatre has a healing, supportive function, it can make young people less lonely, dissuade them from the convictions that tend to occupy teenagers and young people, when they mostly feel a certain way and that this feeling is eternal and unchanging. The theatre needs the young and the young need the theatre. In order for this to happen, a forum was designed on the topic of what young people would like to see in the theatre, what they are interested in and what content would attract them to the theatre. Through an open communication with young people, theatre visitors, active members of various drama sections and acting workshops, we want to open a conversation on these topics so that creators of theatre for young people and interested representatives of the institutions can hear the voice of young people. Since its inception, Novi Sad Theatre Festival have fostered a dialogue between the authors of plays for children and young people and the audience. Forum is a logical continuation of that exchange and a deepening of the analysis of theatre for young people. The panel moderator is Divna Stojanov.

Forum of young critics

The accompanying program "Forum of young critics" was carefully designed with the idea of educating new generations about theatre. Attendees of the Drama Studio of the Youth Theatre, children of different ages, who are also regular viewers of the performances of the Youth Theatre, participate in this program. Actors and pedagogues who work with them teach them how to watch plays, how to read theatrical signs and symbols, but also to better understand human characters and recognize topics important for their future life. In the previous two years, children had the opportunity to meet the creators after watching the performances and ask them a variety of questions. Often, the children put the actors and authors of the plays in serious dilemmas with their questions. Divna Stojanov, the moderator of the Forum, says: I believe that when we are audience, we should be as good as possible, the best at it. In the long term, the Forum of young critics has taken a step towards the formation of new audience as well as nurturing them in general.

Welcome to the Novi Sad Theatre Festival!

I proudly present to you this year's Third International Theatre Festival for Children and Youth - Novi Sad Theatre Festival, as a link between different cultures and countries, different ideas, emotions and perspectives.

The selection that will inspire us and make us think, this year brings performances from Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Bulgaria, Italy and Serbia. Among them are shows intended for the youngest, but also for those who are not so young, there are drama shows, puppet shows... In a word, a program that will truly enrich us and - I believe - leave an indelible mark.

Thank you for joining the Novi Sad Theatre Festival. May the week of the Festival be filled with the magic of the theater and may each performance bring us a new discovery and joy.

Let's enjoy the Novi Sad Theatre Festival. Welcome to Novi Sad. Welcome to Serbia.

Selection of performances for 2024

Thatre Continuo, Malovice, Czech Republic
HIC SUNT DRACONES
Author: Pavel Stourac
Director: Pavel Stourac
Age recommended: 15+

City Theater "Žar ptica", Zagreb, Croatia
LITTLE FRIDA
Authors: Jelena Kovačić and Anica Tomić
Director: Anica Tomić
Age recommended: 7+

La Fille Du Laitier, Montréal, Québec, Canada
MACBETH MUET
Author: Marie-Hélène Bélanger and Jon Lachlan Stewart based on Macbeth
Director: Marie-Hélène Bélanger and Jon Lachlan Stewart
Age recommended: 14+

State Puppet Theatre Stara Zagora, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
HOTEL
Author: Lyubomir Zhelev
Director: Lyubomir Zhelev
Age recommended: 7+

Zaches teatro, Firenze, Italy
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
Author: Luana Gramegna
Director: Alberto Bartolini
Age recommended: 5+

Tehatre Koper - Teatro Capodistria, Koper, Slovenia
THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK
Author: Anne Frank
Director: Renata Vidič
Age recommended: 11+

Osijek Cultural Center, Osijek, Croatia
VELVET REVOLUTION
Author: Matej Sudarič, Vanja Jovanović
Director: Vanja Jovanović
Age recommended: 17+

Puppetes lab, Sofia, Bulgaria
I, SISYPHUS
Author: Veselka Kuncheva
Director: Veselka Kuncheva
Age recommended: 14+

Theatre “Boško Buha”, BeLgradE, Serbia
THE SECRET DIARY OF ADRIAN MOLE
Author: Sue Townsend
Director: Tanja Mandić Rigonat
Age recommended: 9+

Theater for Children and Youth Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia
CITY OF LIGHT
Author: David Zuazola
Director: David Zuazola
Age recommended: 10+

Theatre “Atelier 313”, Sofia, Bulgaria
THE CLOWN AND HIS CHILDREN
Author: Ženi Pašova i Petar Pašov
Director: Ženi Pašova i Petar Pašov
Age recommended: 4+

Macedonian "Ronia – the Robber’s Daughter" winner of the 2nd Novi Sad Theater Festival

The Second International Festival of Professional Theaters for Children and Youth Novi Sad Theater Festival has been a safe haven for our children and young people and their parents in the past seven days. We express our gratitude to all the ensembles who arrived in Novi Sad and showed us the best of what they can do. And now the awards, which were decided by a jury consisting of a costume designer Milica Grbić Komazec, a journalist Olivera Milošević and an actress Maja Lučič.

DECISIONS OF THE JURY

Grand Prix - award for the best play as a whole is awarded by the jury to the performance "Ronia, The Robber’s Daughter", directed by Jakub Maksimov, Theater for Children and Youth, Skopje.

The performance is exceptional and layered in all segments, at the same time archaic and modern, and has all the components that make it outstanding.

Best Director Award is awarded to Tamara Kučinović for the play "Frozen Songs" of the City Puppet Theater Rijeka.

Extremely precise and skilful, Tamara Kučinović connected all segments of the play and created a realistic, but at the same time warm and imaginative theatrical story.

Best Actor/Actress Award - Jelena Trkulja for multiple roles in the play "Heidi", directed by Đurđa Tešić, “Boško Buha" Theatre.

Jelena Trkulja interpreted three different characters in the play, which is characterized above all by collective play. Her acting was utterly believable, witty and suggestive.

Animation Mastery Award - Matea Jankovoska for the role of Ronia in the play "Ronia – The Robber’s Daughter", directed by Jakub Maksimov, Theater for children and young people - Skopje.

Matea Jankovska skillfully animates the puppets, energetically and heartily playing a brave and daring girl, using a wide range of animating and acting skills.

Special Award for Authenticity and Originality - the play "Clowns’ Houses", theater "Merlin" from Berlin, authors Dimitris Stamu and Demetra Papada.

The award is given for authenticity and originality, for showing modernity through a specific visual and dramaturgical expression in a play that through dark humor and grotesque tells a story about us today.

Special Award for Overall Impression is awarded by the jury to Alek Ćurčić, for the performance of the play "Geometry of the Soul", directed by Olga Zečeva, from the "Plus" theater from Spain. The award is given for the overall and stunning impression when using various performing arts techniques in the play "Geometry of the Soul", which is a good example of contemporary theatrical expression.

Special Award for Collective Acting and Animation to the ensemble of the play "Frozen Songs" directed by Tamara Kučinović, City Puppet Theater Rijeka.

The ensemble of the play showed exceptional skill in expressing subtle emotions through puppets, insisting on the precision of synchronized, realistic movement expression.

Maja Lučić, president of the jury

Olivera Milošević, member of the jury

Milica Grbić Komazec, member of the jury

In the theater we create both resistance and solidarity

Demetra Papada is part of the Greek troupe "Merlin", based in Berlin, which performed "Clowns’ Houses" at the festival. Greek-German artists portrayed the world of alienated people in an authentically black-humored and grotesque, but also poignantly humorous way...

As an artist, are you afraid of the world you talk about in the play?

I am, of course I am, like everyone else, but the theater is a way to talk about those fears openly in order to overcome them. To analyze and share the experience of thinking and the experience of fear, that is important in the theater. We put a lot of personal stuff in there, but it is the story of all of us, both politically and socially in the whole world. All our plays talk about current problems, and we address children and their parents.

What kind of stories are good to tell our children and how should they be told in the theater?

For me personally, it is important that stories for children are true. I make them the same way as for adults. My opinion is that if I like something as an adult and I'm not bored, kids won't be bored either. I treat children as friends. I try to make my theatrical language clear and precise, true. If it is true and acceptable, then I can talk about difficult things, but also dream about a better time. We can all create resistance and solidarity together. In that sense, I am both a realist and a dreamer. This is how you should talk to children.

You are a Greek troupe with an address in Berlin. Is it possible to function as an independent troupe?

It is. We are a completely independent company that does nothing for fun. Everything that we showed in this play, for example, we made from waste, recycled things, which is a way to contribute to a cleaner world. In this way, we can connect ecologically with people's consciousness.

Are you supported by the German government in any way?

We are a completely independent company, but during Covid period, the German government helped all our artists and that was really important, while in Greece, for example, no one helped the artists, which makes my heart ache.

What other plays do you perform?

Recently, we are performing two plays, one for the whole family - "No Man's Land", and the other play called "Drowning" talks about the anxieties of our world and how to deal with them. It also talks about how to live without striking a pose, because people today live a lot in a pose - untrue. And it would be simple just to live, and be...