The 16th Research Forum for Children and Youth Theatre Art and a rich accompanying program of the 32 nd International Festival of Children's Theatres - Subotica

The 32nd International Festival of Children's Theatres – Subotica (organised by the Open University Subotica and taking place from September 21 to September 26) will play host to the 16th edition of the Research Forum for Children and Youth Theatre Art, curated by Dr. Marijana Prpa Fink. In addition, numerous exhibitions, book promotion events, workshops and film screenings will be included in the Festval’s accompanying program.

This year's edition of the Forum - which will take place at the Subotica City Library, from September 22 to 25 - will focus on researching the topic of Different Approaches to Aesthetics in Theatre for Children and Youth.

Theatre scholars and researchers – 28 experts in the field of theatre for children and youth, arriving from 15 countries – will gather in Subotica to present their essays which will be promoted at the next year’s Festival in an anthology to be published by the Theatre Museum of Vojvodina and the Open University Subotica. Subotica will also welcome participants who have previously presented their works, as well as completely new researchers whose work we eagerly await, Dr. Marijana Prpa Fink said.

The festival's accompanying program will feature exhibitions, book promotions, film screenings, workshops, one out-of-competition performance and several discussion panels with Festival award winners.

On Monday, September 22, at 1:15 p.m., an exhibition honouring Feng Li and Zdravko Mićanović - the recipients of the Little Prince Lifetime Achievement Award - will be open for public at the Gallery of Open University. The exhibition will present milestone moments of Feng Li's career - her innovative approach, dedication, persistence in education and raising the level of theatre literacy and her influence on young audiences – coupled with 23 panels of Mićanović's "2D plays for children", artwork published in children's magazines. On Tuesday, September 23, at 11:30 a.m., the Subotica Children's Theatre will present itself with an exhibition of puppets at its premises.

On Monday, September 22, at 4 p.m., a discussion with the winner of the Little Prince award, Feng Li from China, will take place at Hotel Patria, followed by a discussion with the local laureate Zdravko Mićanović, at the same time the following day.

Hotel Patria will also host promotional events for the following: History of Puppet Theatre in the 15th-21st Century" - an encyclopedia by Boris Goldovski, followed by a live discussion with the author/winner of the Oton Tomanić festival award (September 24 at 4 p.m.); the magazine Niti i Zbornik (#20-21) and the collection of works Theatre for Children: an Artistic Phenomenon (September 25 at 4 p.m.), as well as 2 books by Zoran Đerić: the collection of poems Eberečke, eberdu: pesme za decu (Eberečke, Eberdu: Poems for Children) edited by Luka Kecman and published by the Vojvodina Cultural Center "Miloš Crnjanski," and the collection of essays on theatre The Meaning of Drama, published by Sterijevo gledališče (September 26 at 4 p.m.).

The festival's film screening programme will take place every day from 22 to 26 September at 11:00 at the Eurocinema in Subotica. The programme will feature 5 animated films: Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light (September 22), Into the Wonderwoods (September 23), Super Elfkins (September 24), The Inventor (September 25) and Niko: Beyond the Northern Lights (September 26).

Outside the competition, the play A Trip Around the World with a Suitcase Full of Music, produced by the pupils of the local primary school Matko Vuković will be staged on September 24 at 5 p.m. at the National Theatre in Subotica’s Jadran Stage. In this play, a father attempts to reassure his wife and children in wake of difficult reality, teaching them that imagination has the power to create happy moments - even in difficult times.

Three workshops will be held as part of the festival's accompanying programme.

Vintage Voices Stories and Songs is a workshop where the Irish artist Cliodhna Noonan will sing nursery rhymes and old songs and stories with scarves and shakers in front of an audience of up to 3 years old, on September 22 and 23 at the venue Danilo Kiš Foundation. At the same venue the following day, on September 24 at 10 a.m., Cliodhna Noonan will perform Trolland, an interactive storytime session for children up to 5 years old, exploring the theme of leadership and elections. For professionals, a master-class will be organised - to expand on the experiences of previous sessions with themes of early-age audiences, their needs and abilities. Building upon ideas for staging and presentation, the final pieces will be showcased on the last day to the youngest audience.

Branka Rudman's workshop Using Puppets in a Preschool Environment is aimed at educators and will take place on September 22 at 2 p.m. at the venue Danilo Kiš Foundation. The workshop will showcase examples of good practices in puppet-making, the methods of moving a glove-puppet and a rod-puppet. Additionally, creative plays with puppets that can be utilized in further work will be organized.

On the last Festival day, September 26 at 12, Jovan Caran will host a workshop An Entire Universe made from Cardboard, a sort of introduction to the world of theatre. Several types of “takeaway theatre” will be showcased: from cartoon-drawn theatre to Japanese kamishibai and a theatre set- up utilizing 3D stage designs – all focusing on paper and cardboard as basic creative material.

The competition programme of the 32nd International Festival of Children’s Theatres - Subotica (taking place from 21 to 26 September, organized by the Open University Subotica), will feature 13 plays for children arriving from around the globe - as selected by the festival’s newly appointed selector, Dr. Marijana Prpa Fink. This year, children, young people and all Festival attendees will have an opportunity to watch 13 selected plays from Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Turkey, Mexico, Colombia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina/Republika Srpska and Serbia.

The International Festival of Children's Theatres Subotica is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, the Provincial Department for Culture, Public Information and Relations with Religious Communities of Vojvodina and the Municipality of Subotica.