The third day of the 30th Subotica International Children's Theater Festival

On Tuesday, September 19, the third day of the 30th International Festival of Children's Theatres Subotica, three plays were performed in the official selection: Seven Ravens by the Banja Luka Children's Theatre of the Republic of Srpska, The Story About the Love of a Tree by Play Aree Theatre from South Korea and Primitive Girl by Toša Jovanović National Theatre from Zrenjanin.

The play Seven Ravens by the Banja Luka Children's Theatre of the Republic of Srpska was performed at National Theatre’s Jadran Stage. This puppet play, directed by Jakub Maksimov, was based on a traditional Central European fairy tale. The script was inspired by Slovak, Polish and Austrian versions of the story, but mostly dominantly its Czech and German counterparts (the Brothers Grimm).

The story explores language as a powerful tool. One of the actors and the artistic director of this Banja Luka theatrical establishment, Duško Mazalica, points out the importance of the festival itself: “It’s extremely important for us to partake in this international festival because we have participated since the very beginning – going all the way back to the first edition of the festival, some thirty years ago. Since then, we have been attending the festival on a regular basis with the intention to support the festival in that way, but also - on the other hand - to reevaluate our position in relation to the competition. From our experience, the festival is getting better and better and has always showcased great performances".

About the play, Mazalica said: "This fairy-tale is not that well-known in our region. Director Jakub Maksimov from the Czech Republic approached the process of working with the puppets, setting the correct mood of the performance, musical cues and sound effects very meticulously.”

The Story About the Love of a Tree directed by Choi Won, performed at the Children's Theatre in Subotica, is a story about a tree and a boy. The boy visits the tree every day. When he's hungry, he picks an apple; when he gets bored, he plays with the tree. As time passes, the boy gradually becomes a teenager. He comes to the tree saying he needs money. The tree gives him apples to sell at the market. When the boy grows up, he wants to go on a journey. The tree gives him its branches to build a boat. As time passes, the boy no longer visits the tree… After the performance, director Choi Won was very satisfied with the audience reception and the festival itself.

"As an artist who creates for children, I enjoy giving children happiness and joy in the form of a performance. We wish to convey a message of love between children and parents, parents and grandparents. We also want to show the love between people and nature. We have to love each other and wish to convey that love to everyone.”

The play Primitive Girl by Desanka Maksimović and Mina Petrić, directed by Sonja Petrović, was performed at the National Theatre’s Jadran stage. This play is a reminder of just how detached we became from the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, water, fire, plants, animals, genuine touches and encounters with nature. In play’s imagined community nature is an event, a character, a moment, a beauty, a friend, a murderer, a parent, a landlord... Nature is not something that "should be preserved", but a part of us.

Ivana Kukolj Solarov, the assistant director of Toša Jovanović National Theatre from Zrenjanin commented on selecting this particular play as their festival entry: "Desanka Maksimović's novel Primitive Girl is unfairly neglected in contemporary literature for children. We settled on this novel because it seemed very interesting and suitable for an inspiring stage performance. It dealt with certain topics that we as a theatre are interested in at the moment: gender equality, environmental awareness, connection to nature, as well as some life cycles that can be read very well in this novel. The play was made with the intention of marking the 30th anniversary of our greatest poet Desanka Maksimović’s passing.

At Children's Theater of Subotica, an exhibition of puppets from Toša Jovanović National Theatre in Zrenjanin’s puppetry division was opened. At the opening, Ivana Kukolj Solarov pointed out: "Our dedication to puppetry can be seen in the fact that we exclusively perform puppet shows only. Some of the biggest names and most important puppeteer directors have worked in our theatre. At this exhibition - which is only a selection of what the puppetry division of Zrenjanin theater has accumulated over the decades – viewers will have an opportunity to see the puppets of Blagovesta Vasileva, Milica Grbić-Komazec, Jelena Milić-Zlatković and Reka Ferenci.”

An Afternoon with Jelena Sitar, a discussion with one of this year's recipients of the Little Prince Award, was held at Hotel Patria.

At the Open University of Subotica the promotional event for the book Novi Sad – the birthplace of songs for children: the anthology of children and youth poetry by Novi Sad-based authors by Pop D. Đurđev (published by the Novi Sad Authors’ Society) took place.

The Squares and Streets companion program began at Freedom Square in Subotica with numerous dance and other performance programs organized.

Cliodhna Noonan hosted two workshops: The Dreamtrain, the first theatre experience for children ages 3 to 6 and Vintage Voices and Sounds, a workshop for babies ages 0 to 3. As part of the cinema program at 11AM, Subotica Eurocinema theatre held a screening of a French feature film New Toy.

On , the fourth day of the festival (Wednesday, September 20) the audience will be able to see the following plays: Paprika Jancsi and Devil's Tongue by the Harlequin Puppet Theatre from Hungary (at National Theatre Jadran, 10AM), Seal-Woman by the Slovak theatre Anima-Act (at Children's Theatre Subotica, 12AM) and Nocturno by the Flying Cow Theatre from Latvia (at National Theatre Jadran stage, 10AM).

At 4PM at Hotel Patria will host An Afternoon with Zoran Đerić, a conversation with the first recipient of the newly established festival award Oton Tomanić.

The presentation of the book Fairy-tale Theory for Puppeteers (published by Puppetry Edition, Book 4, Novi Sad) is scheduled for 5:30PM at the Open University of Subotica (Room 212). As part of the cinema program, Subotica Eurocinema theatre will hold a screening of the Ukrainian animated film Mavka: the Forest Song at 11AM.