Đorđe Kreća: The Miracle is a wonderful play about the power of the human heart

On Tuesday, September 23, the third day of the 32nd International Festival of Children's Theatres - Subotica, 3 plays were staged in the competition program: Pintamúsica by the Spanish company Viu el teatro, The Goblin Cries Because of the Beating by the Colombian Fundación Teatral Madretierra and The Miracle by the Pinokio Puppet Theatre from Belgrade.

Pintamúsica, a play performed at the National Theatre’s Jadran stage, is a tactile adventure that can be listened to, watched and participated in through play. The play is primarily intended for children from the earliest age to five years old.

"The play’s runtime is of great importance. Children need to be constantly stimulated in order to keep up with the play’s pace and remain focused. That is always the main challenge when working with young children," said Gisela Juanet, the play’s author and director. In this play, three musicians, actors and singers bring to life Catalan artist Joan Miró’s painting Women and Bird in the Moonlight. "My mother is an art historian and she had suggested this painting might be a good fit for a play. Miró uses basic colours that children easily recognize, that can also be associated with the seasons and the music of Vivaldi", the author of the play added.

In The Goblin Cries Because of the Beating, Duende the goblin saves a peaceful and happy town on the Pacific coast from disappearing as strange events begin to unfold.

"Duende is a mythical figure from the Pacific region of Colombia. Also, the other characters are mythological figures that we have brought together in this play," said Edgar Hernán Moreno Rojas – the play’s author, director and also one of its principal actors. "The audience in Subotica was wonderful," concluded the Colombian author.

The Miracle poses the question of just how empathetic we are towards each other and what happens when we forget to be.

"It’s a wonderful play and a cautionary tale about the capacity of the human heart and its possibilities; about the amount of love we can have for someone different - someone who may be in great trouble that people might not even consider. There are people who - like the main character Ogi - were born with a deformity and have been exposed to condemnation and ridicule since early childhood. This subject is always quite painful and requires us to reconsider how much our hearts are open to all such people and their fates. The play teaches us to better understand the suffering of people who may have different lives than we do. I always look forward to performing this play and, after each performance, I feel as a better person," said Đorđe Kreća, the lead actor.

The Subotica Children's Theatre presented itself to the public with an exhibition of puppets at its premises. The exhibition was opened by the executive producer of the festival Ilija Tatić and the theatre’s manager Marta Aroksalaši Stamenković who reminisced on the institution’s 91-year long history. They presented to the public various puppets created for the theatre's plays.

As part of the accompanying program, a discussion session with Zdravko Mićanović (the winner of the Little Prince award in the category of domestic artists) was held at Patria Hotel.

As part of the festival's film programme, a screening of the animated feature Into the Wonderwoods was held at the Subotica’s Eurocinema theatre.

At Danilo Kiš Foundation, Irish artist Cliodhna Noonan completed her second Vintage voices, Stories and Songs workshop during which she sang nursery rhymes, old songs and stories to children up to 3 years of age, accompanied by scarves and shakers.

On Wednesday, September 24, the audience will have the opportunity to watch the following performances in the competition programme: Caught Between the Puppets by Demediado Teatro from Mexico (Jadran Stage at 10 a.m.) and The Little red Riding Hood by the Youth Theatre from Novi Sad (Subotica Children’s Theatre at 12).

At 5 p.m., the National Theatre’s Jadran stage will host an out-of-competition performance of A Trip Round the World with a Suitcase Full of Music, a production by pupils of the local elementary school Matko Vuković.

At 4 p.m., Patria Hotel will host a discussion session with Boris P. Goldovski – the winner of the Oton Tomanić Award – who will present his encyclopedic tome, The History of Puppet Theatre from 15 th to 21 st Century.

As part of the festival's film programme, a screening of the animated feature Super Elfkins is scheduled at the Subotica’s Eurocinema theatre, at 11 a.m.

Traditionally, the International Festival of Children's Theatre - Subotica is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, the Provincial Secretariat for Culture, Public Information and Relations with Religious Communities and the Municipality of Subotica, whereas The Vojvodina Theatre Museum is acting as a partner in the festival's production. The executive producer of the festival is the Open University Subotica.