14th Forum for the Research of Theater Art for Children and Youth in Subotica has ended

The 14th edition of the Children and Youth Theatre Art Research Forum with a topic of Time and Responsibility in Theatre for the Youth – as part of the 30th International Festival of Children's Theatres Subotica – has concluded on September 21.

Head of the Forum Marijana Prpa Fink, Ph.D reflected on previous four days of this professional gathering: "This year's edition of the Forum was an exceptional opportunity for theatre researchers of 14 countries from different parts of the world to exchange knowledge and experience in approaching creation of theatre content for children and young people. We had the opportunity to witness a vast diversity of approaches to theatre art for children and youth, as well as different methodologies represented in our field. This diversity makes the research forum significant for perspectives that open up in future theatrical events. This largest scientific gathering on the subject of theatre for children and youth in Central Europe established the first award in our country - which will be international - for an outstanding contribution to the scientific research on theatre for children and youth. Oton Tomanić award was named after the founder of puppetry in the city of Subotica. This year's laureate is Zoran Đerić, Ph.D."

Marijana Prpa Fink Ph.D. also referred to this year's forum topic: "The topic is a product of the last year’s forum participants’ joint work. It was born out of the necessity to emphasize the importance of responsibility towards the time children allocate to spending in the theatre was. Apart from the main topic of the forum, four sub-themes were imposed with the arrival of the proposals: A review of children and youth theatre in the 21st century –a view from the past - where the participants discussed historical aspect of theatre art in different cultures; Theatrical language for children and youth - where we examined diverse methodologies used by researchers in creating theatrical content; Theatre and Education as a special challenge in the modern world; and on, the last day of the forum, Children and youth Theater and Responsibility which concluded this year's 4-day workshop .”

One of the forum’s participants, Erika Hughes from England, expressed her impressions of the 4-day gathering: “It truly was amazing. Expert discussions were held at a high standard as were the festival’s performances. This is very unique to have both a festival and a forum to can discuss theory and ideas - in the same place. As someone who is both a researcher and a director, it was very useful for me to experience both aspects.”

Paula Gotelip from Brazil said about the forum: "I think it’s very important for the exchange of opinions of people involved in theatre for children, because researchers from all over the world get to meet. This week I was very happy to hear opinions on theatre for children with disabilities and the ways in which they could be involved, but also about other different forms of theatre. That's very important."

The forum was attended live and online by participants from 14 countries: Ewa Tomaszewska (Poland), Boris Goldovskiy (Russia), Vesna Torjanac (Croatia), Rachael Mc Bean, MD Khalid (India), Isabel Schwenk (Germany), Sergio J. Martinez (Cuba), Di Wang (China/England), Paula Gotelip, Jucca Rodrigues (Brazil), Erika Hughes, James Peachey-Baker, Jennifer Essex (England), Ilze Klavina (Latvia), Jeremy Turner (Wales) and Ivan Pravdić (Serbia).