Day 5 of the International Children's Theater Festival Subotica - report

On Thursday, September 23, the fifth day of the International Festival of Children's Theaters Subotica, two plays were performed in the Competition Program: To Theater with Love by the Children's Theater Subotica and On the Trail by the City Theater Zorin dom Karlovac.

The play To Theater with Love, performed at the Children's Theater in Subotica, is a reflection of love for the puppet theater. Like a kaleidoscope, different types of puppets come to life through music, dance and skillful animation of the actors. This is a "play with which the audience will wander beyond the borders of the endless sea of dreams, wander with the puppet theater", it is stated in the synopsis.

Marta Aroksalaši Stamenković, director of the Children's Theater Subotica, said about this play: "The performance To Theater with Love, which we also play in Hungarian, was created in 2019 and it was supposed to represent our theater at the Festival last year. However, due to illness and already known circumstances, the show was canceled. I am extremely happy to be able to show it this year, because this is our first collaboration with Mr. Bonjo Lungov, who is also the head of the puppetry department at the Sofia Puppet Academy, and his assistant Konstantin Karakostov. The director made sure to show different types of puppets, with very precise and well-chosen popular music."

The play On the Trail by the City Theater Zorin dom Karlovac was performed on the Jadran Stage of the Subotica’s National Theater. The story revolves around the disappearance of a young fish, Mladena Čuvarić, who is known as the great protector of the rivers. She fought with all her strengths for the purity of the rivers. Has she got in someone's way? Inspector Catfish Thunder, together with his team, is investigating the case of the disappearance. In order to find the culprit, they will have to question actor Goran Perch, singer Goran Carp and the school principal Barbara Bolen.

Petra Cicvarić, author and lead actress, explained how she came up with the idea for this play: “In Karlovac we have a river aquarium called Akvatika and we wanted some cooperation with them, so they suggested we make a play. Then I kept thinking about what it would be like with those fish, because we needed to include those fish that we have in the aquarium - trout, carp, pike, and so on. As I am also in ecology, it spontaneously occurred to me that the investigation of a single fish disappearance eventually can be turned out to be extinction due to pollution. It's a crime story, it's ecological, but we packed it nicely to make it funny and interesting for the children."

On Thursday, at 5 pm at the Patria Hotel, was presented book Puppet Simulacra by Dr. Zoran Đerić, the programmer of the Festival's Competition Program. Film Sune - Best Man by Swedish director Jon Holmberg was on the program at the Eurocinema at 5 pm.

On the last day of the festival, Friday, September 24, the festival will be officially closed at 7 pm with the announcement of the winners and the award ceremony at the Children's Theater Subotica. Previously, in the Competition Program, at 10 am on the Jadran Stage of the Subotica’s National Theater, will be played Sleeping Beauty by the Drake Theater from the Czech Republic, and at 5 pm in the Eurocinema the repertoire includes film Rocca Changes the World. All programs at the International Children's Theaters Festival are open to visitors and free.