Fion Wyn Bowen: “It is important to us that children feel they are part of the performance”

33rd International Festival of Children’s Theatres - Subotica – Day 3

Fion Wyn Bowen: “It is important to us that children feel they are part of the performance”

On Tuesday, September 22, the third day of the 33rd International Festival of Children's Theatres – Subotica, the competition programme featured Where the Leaves Blow by Arad Goch Theatre from Wales, Ojoj: The Great Story of a Little Line by Pinokio Thatre from Łódź, Poland, and The Magic Flute by the Youth Theatre from Novi Sad.

Where the Leaves Blow was performed at the Subotica Children's Theatre. This interactive, musical, humorous and imaginative theatrical experience uses natural objects to awaken children's senses and open their imaginations to creativity, play, exploration and communication.

Director Ffion Wyn Bowen spoke about the performance: “The senses and emotions are important to our performance, as is the relationship between two people who have to learn how to live with one another, to exist in the same space. You can regard this subject on different levels – as a brother and sister sharing a room, for example, but also in terms of how we, as adults, try to live together, care for one another and respect one another. It is also important to us that children feel they are part of the performance. It begins outside the theatre space, where they can meet the main performer and collect various objects in the foyer. We then invite the children onto the stage to decorate it and, together with the characters, become part of this world.”

The protagonist of Ojoj: The Great Story of a Little Line, performed at the Subotica National Theatre, is a shy boy who struggles to make friends. His lack of self-confidence pushes him towards loneliness and sadness. In order to be accepted by his peers, he first has to define who he is – his interests and his personal style. The performance, inspired by the picture book by Serge Bloch, was directed by Aleksandra Pejcz.

“The picture book served as our inspiration, but we did not want to tell the same story. We found its central thread and developed our own story from it, drawing on our imagination and emotions. We wanted to talk about children's imagination, how it changes and how we can convey it to an audience. I don't want to impose a particular message on children in advance, although, of course, we have one in mind. It is much more important to me that we listen to them, offer them certain words and emotions, and later hear how they understood the performance. It is especially important to me that they follow the emotions of our main character, the puppet, and understand them,” said Aleksandra Pejcz.

The Magic Flute, performed on the Jadran stage, is conceived as an adaptation of Mozart's popular opera, introducing children to this musical-theatrical genre.

“Director Renata Carola Gatica paid close attention to the children's age and to making the performance cheerful, entertaining and colourful, as well as energetic, with something happening all the time. There is no major plot or storyline in the traditional sense – it’s a simple story, fast-paced, engaging and accessible. If we presented it as an opera, children might not enjoy it as much, but if we perform it as a beautiful story with singing – it becomes something familiar to them. Children learn songs from an early age, and music is a universal language,” explained actor Aleksandar Milković.

As part of the film programme, the animated feature Heidi: the Rescue of the Lynx was screened at the Eurocinema.

On the fourth day of the 33rd International Festival of Children's Theatres – Subotica, Wednesday, September23, the competition programme will feature The Star and the Darkness by Mala Scena Theatre from Croatia (Subotica Children's Theatre, 10 a.m.), The Carrot Tale by the Bobita Puppet Theatre from Hungary (Subotica National Theatre, 12 p.m.), and Felicia by Quintoequilibrio Theatre from Italy (“Jadran” stage, 5 p.m.).

At 6:30 p.m., Hotel Patria will host a conversation with the Little Prince Award recipient, Todor Valov.

As part of the film programme, Stitch-Head will be screened at Eurocinema at 11 a.m.

The entire festival programme is available on the festival website: https://www.lutfestsubotica.net/

The International Festival of Children’s Theatres - Subotica is traditionally supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, the Provincial Secretariat for Culture, Public Information and Relations with Religious Communities, and the City of Subotica. The Theatre Museum of Vojvodina acts as the festival’s production partner, while the Open University Subotica serves as its executive producer.