Along with the German play Children of the Sun directed by Mateja Koležnik, the opening of the festival was particularly touching due to the return of the director Boro Drašković to the stage of the Yugoslav Drama Theater, half a century after his play "When the Pumpkins Blossomed" was banned. Goodbye, Lindita by the young Greek star Mario Banushi was greeted with standing ovations, and two local plays Desire to Make a Solid History Will End Up in Failure by Igor Koruga, and All Adventurous Women Do by Tanja Šljivar and directed by Selma Spahić, were successfully performed in front of packed audience.
This weekend, Kalemegdan is the place where the audience can watch the award-winning opera performance Sun and Sea by Lithuanian authors Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, Vaiva Grainytė and Lina Lapelytė. For this work, which was awarded the Golden Lion at the Biennale in Venice, tickets for eight consecutive performances in the Art Pavilion "Cvijeta Zuzorić" were sold out.
After the first performances on Saturday evening, the audience was thrilled. Numerous photos and videos of the beach flooded social networks, and tickets for tonight's performances are still in demand.
The Hungarian operetta Singing Youth by Judit Böröcz, Bence György Pálinkás, and Máté Szigeti, produced by Trafo from Budapest, premieres tonight, and performs again the following day, on October 9, on the stage of the Bitef Theater. The past seventy years of turbulent Hungarian history and the role of art in promoting the ruling ideology are discussed through a libretto composed of statements by Viktor Orbán and other politicians.
Anja Suša is coming to Bitef with the play #Jeanne which she directed based on the text by Ivana Sajko for the Swedish visiting theater Riksteatern and the Royal Drama Theater Dramaten. It is a modern version of the fairy tale about Joan of Arc, which deals with the potential of resistance to social and systemic injustice and will be performed on October 9 at the Terazije Theater.
The ceremonial closing of the 57th Bitef will be marked by the dance performance Wakatt by choreographer Serge Eme Coulibaly from Burkina Faso, who lives in Belgium. He is coming to Belgrade with ten dancers who will perform on the stage of the National Theater on October 10th, accompanied by live music led by composer Magic Malik, one of the greatest French jazz flutists.
Last night, with the play Restlesslegs, also produced by Trafo from Budapest, the programme of the 11th Contemporary Circus Festival - Cirkobalkana, whose programmes were extremely popular this year, ended. In addition, the 24th Bitef Polyphony ends tomorrow, October 9th, with the performance of the play Bambi by the "Duško Radović" Little Theater, which will also announce Polyphony in Duration, which will be held until December of this year.
The festival has traditionally been supported by the Secretariat for Culture of the City of Belgrade and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, as well as the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia, the Goethe Institute, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Embassy of Greece. New Moment New Ideas Company, the festival's creative agency, is the partner and friend of Bitef. Festival partners this year are Generali Insurance Serbia, Erste Bank a.d. Novi Sad, as well as the friends of the Coca-Cola Hellenic Serbia festival, 1664 Blanc and Somersby, Rajićeva Shopping Center, Alma Quattro, Info media group, Acibadem Bel medic, the "Every Can Counts" programme, Ekostar pak, Vulkan publishing house, as well as Halo Creative team.
