Festivals & Events - General

...the international publications of the festivals [IDM INSTITUTE FOR THE DANUBE REGION A CENTRAL EUROPE-WIENA]. Festival signed the contract for the collaboration with the association "Four Days" from Prague, a member of IETM European Theatre Meeting of the European Association of the Professional Theatre Festivals and theatres itself.
**** ***** *****

- ONE STRANGE AND IMPRESSIVE DREAM-
Silo Theatre is a Dutch ...
...And there wouldn’t be enough festivals in the world to describe Silo’s originality enough. The exceptional Dutch brings us the wild imagination of global madness. Total chaos that allows recognizing the pictures or the situation on the level of one conventional theatre or the level of free associations of one theatre. In one word, magic, unless you are looking for the concrete or global metaphoric meaning.
It’s a real surrealist ... more

WHERE IS THAT BOOZE, LETS GET PISSED

So, where is Pula? In times before Homer and ancient Greek, Pula [in Croatia, ex Yugoslavia] was the place where, according to the mythological and poetical tradition, of ancient writers Medea, Orpheus, Hercules and others, who sailed to Argounaunts. From the garden of king Aietes they carried the captured Golden Fleece. Today citizens of Pula are not the people of Colchis, wearied by their pursuit of the captured treasure, settled on the shores founding Polai, Pula. They are modern civilized people, with the great sense of pride for their town, carrying the booze instead. But not after midnight. After midnight Pula goes down to a sleep to welcome new glorious day, so all shops and pubs are closing down and you end up without midnight hours booze. Among many other festivals, that drags many tourists, including big celebrities, there is one small but prude festival, that celebrates the glory of contemporary theatre and it is modestly called PUF, The International Theatre Festival. It is truth though that contemporary festival mesmerizes, looking for the reason to celebrate. But celebrating is not just booze and getting raving mad, it’s also the celebration of art, a contemporary art. And it cries out "Here I am, I am waiting only for you" It’s inviting and it’s sexy!
Maybe there would be people who would say: "Phew, this is nonsense, contemporary, what is that? Bunch of strange movements with some crazy message in between lines, that no one understands". But let’s get little bit deeper, deeper into one simple head, looking for the art where there are no arts, just commercial events. PUF International Theatre Festival in the town of Pula [in Croatia ex Yugoslavia], was founded by the group of Croatian theatre enthusiasts, directors of the best independent Croatian theatres: INAT Theatre from Pula, Lero Theatre from Dubrovnik, Daska Theatre from Sisak and PINKLEC Theatre from Chakovec. This festival has the significance of one respectful international festival, and is listed in the international publications of the world’s theatre festivals. Theatres performing on this festival are out of any institutions in Europe and world. The place of the performing arts are mainly streets of this beautiful little town, the specific locations, former army barracks, old ruined buildings, squares, theatres etc…The festival is the place where you can sit back with bottle of beer, with some crazy hip chick and relax. There is no one to remind you that theatre is a pretentious high-class performance, expecting of you to be something or somebody. But these theatre performances are professional enough for the passengers as well as it is for the theatre enthusiasts. Here, no one will give a history book to study, because you can hear and see by yourself. Professionally PUF is a festival that is questioning and affirming contemporary, without boring pretentious expectations. It explores innovating theatre, out of the usual institutions and guides. As the present of independent theatre in Croatia, PUF is facing the actual aesthetics and the poetry of the current theatre in the world.

The town of Pula has the six largest Roman amphitheater in the world, most beautiful by the elegance, existing 3 000 years, and makes Pula unique place with all the traces of its distant past inhabitants. From Classic, Romanesque-Gothic structures and Baroque to Austrian Secession architecture and Italian Novecento makes this place perfect home for the contemporary creations. It’s like you are stepping into the culture with the soul that carries all sorts of sexy little things in between its walls. Well PUF{International Theatre Festival] is one sexy creation with mystical number of 9 years existence. It’s something that you keep sake in between, but it’s still not some crazy hot romance, it’s art. PUF is joining innovating theatre people on the specific locations around this ancient town, putting the research of the dimension in the middle. It focuses on man, space and time, exploring the repression on nature, on the natural beauty, working on the modern life depression and getting to know basic beauty of the living, proving over and over again the life as it is. ‘Cause life is performance and performance is life. Artists and performers on PUF are made of different theater aesthetics.
PUF by now has entered into the international publications of the festivals [IDM INSTITUTE FOR THE DANUBE REGION A CENTRAL EUROPE-WIENA]. Festival signed the contract for the collaboration with the association "Four Days" from Prague, a member of IETM European Theatre Meeting of the European Association of the Professional Theatre Festivals and theatres itself.
**** ***** *****

- ONE STRANGE AND IMPRESSIVE DREAM-
Silo Theatre is a Dutch Theatre from Amsterdam. And indeed, most intriguing guest of the festival. Their play " 60 Degrees" won the festival award on PUF as well as on Serbian Theatre Festival [ex Yugoslavia] couple days before. Almost definitely, for originality. And there wouldn’t be enough festivals in the world to describe Silo’s originality enough. The exceptional Dutch brings us the wild imagination of global madness. Total chaos that allows recognizing the pictures or the situation on the level of one conventional theatre or the level of free associations of one theatre. In one word, magic, unless you are looking for the concrete or global metaphoric meaning.
It’s a real surrealist experience, one of the things that you can see and experience while sleeping, in dreams, and it is indeed, an exceptional performance. If you imagine a kaleidoscopic theatre carrousel that works as a lock combination, depends of where you are sitting. The stage is around and it moves in the circle, while audience sees different pictures within one big piece of cake by time. It is most definitely a play for the people with perception. On the train or on the ship, unexpected perspectives turning into familiar facts, disappearing again into the code of the combination lock. Sitting on the rotating tent everybody will have a different view and experience. Actors are using various character-animated objects, 8mm film, 6 channels sound system that rotates with the stage. And you see a mesmerizing world that is created to challenges conventional ways of perceiving theatre. Each box that rotates in the circle tells many little stories on the puppet play style, with many little details within the big picture. The tale is told with music just as well. The music is mixture of Serbian ethno and modern psychedelic sounds that colors the play. The story told, however, is vivid and successful, filling all the senses and essentials of the theatre. Entire play is highly experimental. Stenography is toys and trash objects, exceptional mime, acrobatics, vanishing in the circus mood in the machine. And the details are all that you are looking for here. The mixture of UNCONSCIUSNESS during the REM dream, unless if you are looking for the meaning or global metaphoric meaning.
"A round tent affair sits in the middle of the main space. As we walk around it, the Teddy Bear sitting with its face to the wall offers us a taste of what is to come. We are invited inside the tent to discover an exquisitely intricate mechanized set. The audience sits on three banks of seats, and the players move from one group of theatre-goers to the next. As their simple, wordless performance comes to a close, the extraordinary moving stage creaks into action."
There is something profound and humanistic in this theater, in the parallel-revolving universe that Silo Theater creates. Those exceptional Dutch showing us the wild imagination of global madness. Total chaos that allows recognizing the pictures or the situation, on the level of one conventional theatre. In one word, magic, unless you are looking for the concrete or global metaphoric meaning. You must ask yourself how many theatre plays you have seen like this one? One, two, most likely non. If so, than seeing it in Amsterdam or elsewhere can really wide up your horizons.

– IBSEN UNDER THE BAD WEATHER-
NOR Theatre from Stamsund Norway, on Loften Islands, 500km north from the polar circle, is physical and visual theatre. Imagine theatre troop, living under such a bad weather, getting awarded on PUF in Croatia and on Serbian [ex Yu] Mono Drama and Mime Theatre Festival just couple days later? If we define Teater NOR as a medieval, romantic, modernistic or postmodernistic project with minor adjustments, the only thing that we can say is: Doing Ibsen [Peer Gynt] is a hard work. Imagine life under such a bad weather? Love, dance, booze, hard work, fishing on the ice… NOR Theatre chooses to concentrate on developing further theatrical skills, artistic expression, precision and power. No explanations necessary. If the performance dies, they refuse to launch rescue operation, cause this much is enough when doing Ibsen concerns. "Mass for Bad Weather" is completely natural and it goes with the flow. Teater NOR focuses on the human being, encountering all human strength and weaknesses. The message is simple and is told with small nuances. " Teater NOR works against the current in a landscape where trends, intellectual concepts and light entertainment dominate…" The result of theatre’s geographical location and special interest in culture in a broad sense, NOR has dedicated much time and effort to the coast and their coastal culture. Their geographical position is important to clarify the social culture point of departure, develop relationship to what surrounds and establish its own platform in relation to the whole, to collect old instruments, myths, legends, true stories and music. One of the basic concepts in the work with fragments of the coastal culture has been to find traditional art. "When Nietzsche proclaimed that God died out of sympathy with humankind and when Ibsen moved his actors from Dovergubbens Hill and the back of a billygoat down to the humorless chit chat of a drawing room sofa, something serious happened." Thorbjorn
" In 2002 any attempt to approach Teater NOR, taking into account art theory as a point of departure, is analogous to an encounter with Tatlin’s Tower [Vladimir Tatlin-Monument to the Third International] in this museum of lost illusions. Because, just as is the case for this monument, Teater NOR is also an anachronism a memory from time past, as well as a vision that is history. The Wall had fallen, The Iron Curtain had been dusted and tucked away, and all the grand narratives were already dead, when Teater NOR was established in Stamund, in the Loften Islands of Norway. Not only where Tatlin’s tales or progress and reason buried and forgotten also into the grave went the grander tale of art as it had once existed and as artists liked to portray it, as a encounter cultural meeting place and as a point of departure for alternative experiences." [Jon Refsdal Moe, theater expert freelance writer]

If we define Teater NOR as a medieval, romantic, modernistic or post-modernistic project with minor adjustments, the only thing that we can say is: Doing Ibsen [Peer Gynt] is a hard work. Imagine life under such a bad weather? To love, dance, booze, to do hard work, do fishing on the ice… NOR Theatre likes to concentrate on developing further theatrical skills, artistic expression, precision and power. Teater NOR is a collective endeavor that produces artistic expressions aimed for meeting people in the present time. They are incorporating traditional knowledge and techniques stemming from core society’s ritualistic practices and from historical theatre art productions up, until present time respect.
"Teater NOR works against the current in landscape where trends, intellectual concepts and light entertainment dominate. Through constant human efforts to make life on earth easier and more comfortable we have organized ourselves into a solitude and isolation. Spiritual experiences and development have become privatized: the collective meeting place has been vacated. With nothing other to believe in, than in ourselves, we have lost sight of one another."

–DEVIL MACHINE-
Italian theatre "En Vol" with their "devil machine" "ED Altre Diavolerie" is an exceptional theatre game, played on the streets of Pula. Fire and smoke spitting machine "Sputafuoco" is lead through the streets and squares following only to them defined route. It is accompanied by its creator Maestro Scintilla who looks after the fire, never to get to the end. Than, at his side, we have Nicoletta Farina di Ponzio, the famous most elegant art critic and dance fanatic, occasional mistress of the devil ceremonies. She is also followed by her stepdaughter Marina Salterella who is perused by her obstinate suitor Romeo Calaluna. The group closes down with faithful and cunning fireman Goffedo Battipanni. Running through the streets of Pula, this intriguing party invites the audience and casual passengers to join them in their festive procession. The company presents an atmosphere of suspense. They invite people to join the view, managing however to keep distance at the same time. This fiesta involves people around. "En Vol" is one, big fiesta, luxurious and glamorous with all possible effects to grab and keep attention of the passengers. Very clever!

-THE ART OF LIVING-
Among the festival guests, from Norway [NOR Teater], Italy [EnVol Theater], Holland [Silo Theater], festival hosted theatres from Check Republic with "Anno Domini 2003", Anne Henderson’s "Blue Disco" from Holland and Lero Theater from Dubrovnik with 2 contemporary plays about exceptional life of Dubrovnik’s muse from 16 century Cvjeta Zuzuric, Mostar Youth Theater [from Bosnia and Herzegovina –ex Yu] with mythical contemporary dance presentation of "Labyrinth" and the fantastic idea of joining theatre with environmental problem of deserted army barrack and buildings in Croatia, that have no use, of two exceptional contemporary artists Vlasta Delimar and Milan Bozic.

Lero Theatre is student theatre from beautiful and unique by its tradition and architecture, Dubrovnik. Traditionally contemporary crew of this theatre fulfills all expectations with 2 plays "Secret Garden" and "A Dialogue about beauty". Both plays are about mysterious life of Cvijeta Zuzoric, woman legend, who lived in 16 century in Dubrovnik. During her life, she left many admirers, but even so she wrote nothing about herself. Her gravestone was used in building the stairway and the rest belongs to the legend. It is very hard to talk about such mysterious person with the contemporary language. And, it is very hard to direct such a story, maybe that’s why contemporary theatre can do this best. Both plays are Lero’s theatrical battle with literature and drama of beautiful city of Dubrovnik in the past and today. The show uses fragments of "Dialogues" by Gucetic, between Cvijeta Zuzoric and Mare Gundulic, two Dubrovnik’s literal legends. Story describing beauty of the city Dubrovnik, that was big merchant center at the time, with the description of the nature and the mentality of people, as well as intimate story about sexual maturing of one young lady. If you ever come to Dubrovnik you will know what I’m talking about here.

Mostar Youth Theatre and their "Labyrinth" is a dance piece about Minotaur hidden in Labyrinth. A monster, half-human half bull, with supernatural strength. With leaving labyrinth and wining the monster, we’re gaining our own identity and power, to get higher level, the victory of spirit, eternity and reason. You must admit that such subject is very convenient for one decent contemporary dance theatrical.
Spending night in some uncomfortable but unusual deserted place, that can be a significant cultural place, a factory,ex church or anything like that, is the place that, in now-days, monumentally has lost every meaning of its existence. But in the country ruined with civil war, government has no direct interest to rebuild the place, and create something useful. Money is always needed for something else better than that. Making such place decent for living is art and quite of the challenge. Those places have empty space that contains increasable energy and the spirit of the people who lived or worked there. Space of such, allows many things like, making an art or a theater in. Making the empty deserted room to a place where you can live, date a girl, make an art studio or just a theater play, is very interesting and innovating idea.

Artists, Milan Bozic and Vlasta Delimar presented their idea to the theater audience of the festival, by taking one big bed into the one big empty room, spending night there, together. The space in Carlo Royce Building, the old army building, had one big white bed and two chairs and that’s it. The building is, from 1998, local culture center. An way, once when you get in, into the empty room, with such artists, you are gaining such positive energy, starting to picture the life that can be happening under such circumstances. Almost instantly, you are finding such a place most romantic of all in the world. Because real life is not a make up, nice curtains or luxurious condo, it’s a situation that makes us memorable experiences. Imagine how many deserted buildings and places are on the world? In New York, in Paris, in Serbia or in Croatia. All those place are loaded with energy of past life and people that lived there. The basic idea of this project is to, through artistic message, present the possibility of thinking and finding usage, dignity and spirituality of such places. This project sends a clear message presenting direct environmental problem to any society. Global geography is not essential here. ‘Cause we are not talking about Croatia, we are talking about global message for all those lovely and deserted places in the world.
 

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