The European Capital of Culture will host young domestic, regional, and foreign artists in the upcoming week, and the Novi Sad audience will have as many as eight performances at the Invasion (UPAD) Theatre Festival which will be held at SCCNS Fabrika between 10 and 16 May as part of the Fairy Tales of the Future programme. We suggest you visit Novi Sad and experience the theatre festival of the best European youth troupes.
In order to promote and popularise theatrical art for young people, this festival is being held for the fourth time, and all performances in the programme were chosen by active young spectators: Pavle Hrnčić, Mila Pajić, Amelia Stakić, Anja Pejinović, Višna Vukajlović, Marija Đurđević, Kristina Nestorović, Petra Protić, Nikolina Đenadija, Staša Kecojević, Jelena Laketić, and Lana Trklj.
The coordinator of the ‘Invasion (UPAD)’ festival, Bojan Milosavljević, recently explained that such festivals for children and youth are planned to remain as a legacy even after the year of the European Capital of Culture title and pointed out their importance for young audiences. ‘We forget that children and young people are the future to come and how important it is to point out to them the importance of international cooperation and the difference between good and evil, but also to tell fairy tales in a different way, to see what the stories of the future are,’ he said.
What Plays are We Watching in Fabrika in the Upcoming Days?
10 May at 8 p.m. – Tears of St. Lawrence
The Sterija National Theatre from Vršac brings us a play that opens numerous questions about a serious topic. Is a serial killer ‘born’ with a destructive genetic code, or does he grow into one in an unhealthy environment; does an upbringing and the environment that surround it affects it? Maybe the main trigger of one of Johnny’s dark urges is his lack of love? Don’t miss the play that will open the ‘Invasion (UPAD)’ festival and find out the answers to these questions, and in addition to this topic, there will be questions about imposing guilt on victims, gender identity, violence against women, parenthood, and repentance. The play ‘Tears of St. Lawrence’ is based on the text by Nikola Stanišić, adapted and directed by Saša B. Latinović.
11 May at 8 p.m. – A Practical Guide to Superstition
‘When fear turns into religion, all the candles in the world can’t create enough smoke for the message to reach the intended celestial forces. And then, avoiding ladders turns into living under them.’ Contemporary dance performance A Practical Guide to Superstition is also the final performance of Katarina Ilijašević at the Institute for Artistic Dance in the choreography department. The play was created under the mentorship of Prof. Snežana Arnautovic Stjepanović, PhD, co-mentored by Prof. Ognjen Vučinić, and directed by Luka Jovanov. Do not miss it!
12 May at 8 p.m. – Root
The third day of the ‘Invasion (UPAD)’ festival brings us a play that combines performance and ecology. Intrigued? Check out the play Root, whose theme is the importance of trees in our ecosystem – from the perspective of a tree. Because trees are the key to restoring the climate of our planet. The play is the work of Irish artists Shanna May Breen and Luke Casserly, produced by the Science Gallery Dublin and co-produced by the Dublin Theatre Festival, brut Wien (Vienna), SCCNS (Novi Sad), and the Kilowatt Festival (Sansepolcro).
13 May at 8 p.m. – Playing Reality
Another dance performance will mark the ‘Invasion (UPAD)’ Theatre Festival. Friday in Fabrika is reserved for Playing Reality, produced by the Domino Association from Croatia, and we invite you to watch the play that is created at the intersection of play and performance, playfulness and dance, and playfulness and performance. The authors of the play were, on one hand, dedicated to the choreographic analysis of formal aspects of individual games, their variations, exceptions, and rules, and on the other hand, dealt with the impact on the affective world of children’s games and the atmosphere in which they take place constantly re-evaluating the repercussions of their transformation into performative, i.e., dance material. The idea for the play started with Koraljka Begović, and Jasna Žmak is responsible for the concept and dramaturgy. Choreography and performance were entrusted to Filipi Bavčević, Koraljka Begović, Nastasja Štefanić, and Mia Zalukar.
14 May at 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. – Second Map
The play, produced by CDAT from Spain, which will be performed in two terms on Saturday, is a theatre research and development project focused on the production of a participatory play, using the ‘sightseeing tour’ format. New maps are being created based on memories and stories that belong to people in different cities. In addition to the official tourist map, which can be downloaded from the tourist offices in each city, and which tells you where to go and what to see, this show creates ‘other maps’. Maps of personal stories of people from different cities. Sounds interesting, and we suggest to not miss it!
15 May at 5 p.m. – Babae
Inspired by ‘Witch Dance’ by Mary Wigman, ‘a masterpiece of oddity’, as Judith McCrell put it, dancer Joy Alpuerto Ritter explores inherited dance dictionaries to embody her own witch character. Combining her roots in Filipino folk and classical dance with movements from hip-hop and vogue, she re-imagines what it means to invoke the strength and mystical practices of a dancer as a witch. Don’t miss this play and find out the origin of the word Babae.
15 May at 8 p.m. – Hi Everybody
Experience a whole new theatrical experience on Sunday at Fabrika and don’t miss a play that will push the boundaries and create a new theatre experience using new media, mobile telephony and the Internet, as well as film resources in the theatre. Hi Everybody talks about the lives of young people in Belgrade, with a focus on the phenomenon of influencers, as a new, most desirable profession among young people around the world. The play problematises various issues and controversies related to this new profession, starting with the question: is it a profession at all, and what consequences working on social networks and platforms has on the psyche of the individual, but also on society as a whole. The audience communicates with the performers live, in the public space and the performance space, but also virtually, by phone and through social networks.
On Monday, 16 May, the Ballet School will perform the play Idiot-Syncrasy created as part of the Aerowaves – Ringside programme, which is watched in virtual reality, and the performance is intended for students of the Ballet School.
For pupils and students, admission is free to all performances, with mandatory reservation by email at upadfestival@gmail.com. The regular ticket price is 500 RSD and will be available for purchase before the start of the shows at Fabrika.
The ‘Invasion (UPAD)’ theatre festival is realised as part of the international project ‘BeSpectActive!’ which is part of the EU programme Creative Europe – Culture and which brings together 19 partner organizations from 15 EU countries. The focus of the project is the development of an active audience and participation, as well as the international mobility of artists.
The ‘Invasion (UPAD)’ festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia, the Provincial Secretariat of Finance, the Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture Foundation, and the EU Perform Europe programme, as well as the Creative Ireland Longford and Culture Ireland funds.
Photo: Promo
