BÁBKARSKÁ BYSTRICA

Banská Bystrica, November 8, 2017

Dear colleagues, esteemed collaborators,

Please allow us to inform you about the current state of preparing the next year’s edition of Bábkarská Bystrica TOUR, 2018 – Double Impulse, an international festival of contemporary puppet theatre for children as well as adults, which is scheduled to take place in Banská Bystrica from October 5 through 9, 2018.

Currently, we are all in the middle of a selection process that involves input from respected theatre personalities and puppetry festivals. Our selection already features productions designed for toddlers as well as for adults. The festival’s programme is being put together as we speak and the deadline for applications is the end of February 2018. As usually, the festival should be divided in two thematic parts: the First Impulse shall feature stage productions for children while the Second Impulse shall present shows for adults. At this point, we assume the participation of theatre troupes from seven European countries: the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Spain, and France. For those who are always looking out to the more exotic horizons, let me break a top secret that we would love to present a guest from Brazil and that we are already working hard on it.

The festival’s programme also features a multitude of extra-theatrical activities, including a conference discussing the issue of Puppet Theatre and New Media (Technologies), which should be attended by experts in the field who will share their experience from various European countries such as the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Germany and others. Other cultural events that traditionally form part of our festival are book-launching ceremonies (we are currently preparing a publication mapping out mutual Czech-Slovak relations in the field of puppetry entitled Puppetry among Czechs and Slovaks: Puppets on the Czech-Slovak Boundary from 1918-2018, that shall be released in commemoration of the centenary of the Czechoslovak Republic’s emergence) but also exhibitions organised in close cooperation with the Theatre Institute and the Museum of Puppet Culture and Toys at the Modrý Kameň castle, various street events and happenings for the public and more.

At the same time, we intend to continue in a recently introduced programme line TOUR, which is to bring the festival’s performers closer to the villages and inhabitants of even the most remote parts of our region. In cooperation with the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava we are preparing a special programme section entitled A Forgotten Country, which focuses on including children from local marginalised Romani communities into the festival’s programme and inviting their parents to our festival. We would be very happy if some of the foreign ensembles also agreed to perform in these localities, which was the case last year and we sincerely hope we can achieve something similar this year.

PROGRAM CHANGE RESERVED!

The most recent edition of the festival under the name of Bábkarská Bystrica TOUR 2016 has won several prestigious awards at home as well as abroad, including the EFFE award bestowed to 26 out of 715 cultural festivals around Europe or DOSKY 2017, a special prize awarded by the Association of Theatre Critics for the extraordinary artistic achievement.