Children’s Theatre of Republic of Srpska from Banja Luka is looking for partners for cooperation project in the field of puppetry, i.e. private or public partner operating in the field of theatre or puppetry, esp. from Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and any country with a meaningful puppetry tradition. The purpose of the project is to transfer the skills and knowledge from successful European puppeteers to the theatres, artists and audiences in the countries where the art of puppetry is not rooted and has not yet found its place in local art academies.

Organization: Children’s Theatre of Republic of Srpska

Children’s Theatre of Republic of Srpska from Banja Luka was established in 1955 and the first ballet and puppet shows were performed in 1956. In the last 50 years, the Theatre has produced and performed 279 premieres which have been seen by more than 3 million visitors. Since 1998, the theatre has been performing its key plays in various cities in Europe. It has received numerous national and international awards.

Project

The purpose of this project is to transfer the skills and knowledge from successful European puppeteers to the theatres, artists and audiences in the countries where the art of puppetry is not rooted and has not yet found its place in local art academies.

The project includes three puppet workshops, which will result in creating an innovative and interactive performance in each theatre. The new performances will be focused primarily on the audience participation and inclusion. Each original script will consist of five different folk tales stemming from the participating countries all dealing with a common theme. Each performance will include a “problem” which can be solved only with direct verbal and physical participation of the audience. The audience may be required to create a hero by gathering the missing parts of a puppet and putting them together with the actors, or to think of a solution for an issue in the plot so that the show can go on.

The main goals of the project are to bring theatre closer to the audience, to deepen the relationship with the existing audience, and through their positive experience widen the audience as well as to enable actors (and marketing workers in the theatres) to gain training and knowledge and enrich their professional skills so that they can successfully apply new approaches to audiences of different ages.

Contact: Sanja Zekanovic
T: +387 65 318 669; E: sanjazekanovic@gmail.com