What’s new?

FESTIVAL 2017

From the 21st to the 25th of April an International Theatre Kingfestival presents drama, contemporary dance and puppets performances in Velikiy Novgorod. The festival announces theatres from Russia, China, Korea, Sweden, Portugal, France, Germany, Latvia, Italy, Liechtenstein and Belgium in 2017.
Novgorod theatre for children and youth “Mai” holds International Theatre Kingfestival since 1992 and has transformed into one of the hugest cultural forums during its history, making up the best productions of Russian and European theatres for children and adults. Kingfestival always puts an emphasis on a high quality of performances, creating a program of different theatre genres for general-audience by expanding the program of the festival. The festival is biennale and it has become one of the most remarkable and famous city’s cultural brand.
The festival schedule includes two programs: performances for children and for adult audience, a wide range of plays from Scandinavian sagas to Bible stories, from Andersen’s tales to Shakespeare’s stories. The festival hosts theatres from Russia, China, Korea, Sweden, Portugal, France, Germany, Latvia, Italy, Liechtenstein and Belgium in 2017. The festival program includes plays based on Chekhov’s, Shakespeare’s, Andersen’s, Bulgakov’s, Tsvetaeva’s and Brodsky’s stories, modern plays and Bible parables.
Festival performances have variety of genres from the contemporary dance and drama plays to puppet shows and storytelling, visual theatre and mimic art.

SWEDISH FOCUS
The festival puts an emphasis on the modern theatre for Sweden’s children and youth in 2017, which included in the list for the first time as a the modern dance performance for children from Zebradanse company (Stockholm) and as an exhibition of the theatre poster which Swedish ASSISTEJ presents.

LABORATORY
This year special festival project — international creative laboratory «YOUNG CRITICS – FUTURE OF THE THEATRE» celebrates its 10th year anniversary. The festival and Theatre Union of Russia announced an open call for young theatre specialists-critics and got 55 applications from different parts of Russia and foreign countries. The laboratory extended its boarders for the first time this way – 16 participants from Khanty-Mansyisk, Khabarovsk, Ulan-Ude, Novosibirsk, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Saint-Petersburg and also foreign participants from Tartu (Estonia) and Riga (Latvia) will take part in it. During the laboratory work they should keep a blog, do the interview and take part in open discussion. Workshops present by laboratory’s masters Elena Gorfunkel (theatre critic, professor of Russian State Institute of Performing Arts candidate of History of Arts) and Edite Tishezere (theatre critic, editor of «Teatra Vestnesis” the hugest theatre magazines in Latvia). Alexey Goncharenko (Moscow), chief laboratory moderator, Chief specialist of Theatre cabinet for children and puppet theatres of Theatre Union of Russia, candidate of History of Arts, the UNIMA Research Commission committee-man (Moscow, Russia).
The main prize is a result of the work of young critics’ laboratory «Another view» award which is given for the most impressive play in young critics’ opinion.

PROJECT “THEATRES OF TWIN-CITIES”
The festival makes cultural contacts between twin-cities of Veliky Novgorod and creates projects presenting a theatre art of different countries which is connected with Veliky Novgorod by close relationships. In particular, the project started in 2015 with Bielefeld (Germany) and Bielefeld City theatre will be developed in 2017: the festival program includes drama performance «I call my brothers» made by Bielefeld’s City theatre and presentation of a new cultural project for students of Veliky Novgorod with Beata Briden, theatre pedagogue. Nanter theatre (France) is ready to share with its own experience of a new translation of play based on Bulgakov’s «Heart of a dog».

Within five days the festival will present more than twenty plays in three town’s performance venues. The co-production of Liechtenstein’s and Italy’s theatres in «Cain and Abel» hip-hop play, theatre art of Portugal in impressive Shakespeare’s «Macbeth» play will be presented for the first time. Theatres from Asia will create a special atmosphere at the festival. This year Chinese opera of Henan province «Gentle Breeze Pavilion» and Korean puppet theatre from Seoul The Befu will be shown for the first time too with performance “The Three and the boy”. Russian nominee theatres of «Golden mask» national theatre award and «Harlequin» national theatres for children award are in Petrozavodsk, Orel, Nyagan, Veliky Novgorod. Multicultural aspect of the festival allows audience to see the best plays speaking different languages, to meet with different cultures and to see the most impressive and interesting plays of different cities of the whole world at the same time.