Festival of ecological theater for children and young people (FEP) in Bačka Palanka, ended with the presentation of the "Good Tree" awards. The prizes were awarded by the audience, the children's jury and the expert jury.
The performance "Silent Boy" by the Children's Theater from Kragujevac was awarded the prize for the best performance as a whole according to the decision of the expert jury and the prize of the children's jury for the play closest to children.
According to the evaluation of the expert jury, which consisted of Maša Avramović, pedagogue and activist for children's rights, Duško Mazalica, actor and artistic director of the Children's Theater of the Republic of Srpska, and Jovana Rakić, choreographer and dance pedagogue, three more performances stood out, which were awarded special awards. The play "Astronauts" by the Shooma Art Organization (Bjelovar, Croatia) was awarded for sensibility in interactivity. The author and performing team of the play "The Possibility of Fun with Birds" of the Bitef Theater was awarded for innovation in the theater. The special award for acting performance went to the actress
Zrinka Kušević for the performance in "I Cyrano and the Maiden", a play co-produced by Poco Loco Theater (Zagreb, Croatia) and the Croatian National Theater Ivan pl. Zajca (Rijeka, Croatia).
The audience gave the highest score, a pure five, to the play "Astronauts", which returned to Croatia with another award.
Explanation of the Expert Jury - the best play in its entirety "The Quiet Boy"
"Movement is change, constant change in us and around us." Running, breathing, playing, talking, letting go, breaking, tearing, connecting, going on….
The moment that changes everything. The moment in which all movements stop and change their course into irreversibility and new creation, the creation of a new language, a new connection and exchange, a new environment and a new self.
The conciseness in the expression of the actors, who bring their game as a great team, contributes to the imagination that carries us through the entire play. The simplicity and precision of the director's and dramaturgical procedure, scenographically placed in the frame of a picture of a family, and then a tragic event, contributed to the play "The Quiet Boy" focusing the audience's attention on moving through different spaces within the story. As the action of the play progresses, the main character of the story, the boy Wolf, comes to the attic where he loses his hearing due to a gunshot. From that moment on, a cathartic movement takes place that hits the soul of everyone in the audience like a bullet and warns of the danger of handling weapons.
Life is in our hands, and hands tell this story, they become trees and people and birds, they become a nest and a house. However, they can also take a rifle and stop the movement. In this world where there are fewer and fewer opportunities to connect with ourselves and feel our inner movements."
Explanation of the children's jury - the play closest to children "The Quiet Boy"
"All the movements of the actors' fingers and hands evoked the world of Wolf Boy, their puppets seem more realistic than the real puppets we have seen in other plays." It's wonderful that the sign language of the hearing impaired served as the inspiration for the entire play.
Most importantly, someone who is hard of hearing would understand this play from beginning to end. That's the power of this play and theater in general."
Under the slogan "Movement", the 28th Festival of Ecological Theater for Children and Youth was held from August 18 to 21 in Bačka Palanka. During the four days of the Festival, the competition program featured 10 performances from Serbia, the region, Slovenia, Austria and Denmark performed by international troupes. We hosted friends from all over the world, but also children from Kosovo and from the safe house. We are honored to have been their refuge even for a day. In addition to the performances, an accompanying program was held for children and young people - an interactive concert for the children of Brlog, creative and educational workshops, a discussion about children on the move and the refugee crisis. The world conference of theater for children and youth "Pokretnica", which will be held next year in our country, was presented to the professional public. Before and during the Festival, in exchange for tickets, recyclable waste was collected - corks, plastic packaging, cans, paper, cardboard, glass and electronic waste. Income from recycling and donations will be paid for humanitarian purposes to Lenka Žutković and Milenko Jovina from Bačkopalan.
The 28th ecological theater festival for children and youth is supported by the Swiss government, within the "Culture for Democracy" project, which is run by the Hartefact Fund. FEP was also supported by the Provincial Secretariat for Culture, Public Information and Relations with Religious Communities, as well as the Municipality of Bačka Palanka.
Co-organizers of the 28th FEP were Florida Resort and KC Bačka Palanka.
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