A new puppet theatre showcase titled Vonal Festival will be held for the first time at the Vojtina Puppet Theatre in Debrecen at the end of May, organizers announced at a press conference on Wednesday.
Tamás Szentei, head of the city hall’s cultural department, said Debrecen offers a rich and diverse range of theatre festivals. He mentioned this year’s Deszka Festival, where four Hungarian puppet theatres also performed, as well as the upcoming National Children’s Theatre Festival and Meeting named after Sándor Weöres. The city will also host the National Theatre Meeting, and during Children’s Day, the Vojtina Puppet Theatre will present exciting performances as part of the Vonal Festival.
Terka Láposi, director and artistic leader of Vojtina, added that the Vonal Festival will provide a platform for artists and puppet theatres experimenting with innovative theatrical forms and visual styles, focusing on “what contemporary issues the companies are seeking answers to.” The programme aims to engage audiences from preschool children to adults.
In addition to the traditional International Meeting of Red Hooded Puppeteers, held in odd-numbered years, the organizers find it important to showcase 21st-century directions in puppet theatre, with a special focus on Children’s Day. They plan to organize the Vonal Festival in Debrecen every even-numbered year.
The festival’s programme is built around performances that tackle “bold, even daring theatrical ideas,” the director noted.
According to Láposi, the festival will open on May 29 with the Budapest-based Káva Cultural Workshop’s production And You?, aimed at high school students and adults. A similar audience is targeted by the I, the Vampire performance by the Mesebolt Puppet Theatre from Szombathely. Younger audiences, from the age of four, can enjoy The Adventures of Little Chick and Little Duck by the Ciróka Puppet Theatre from Kecskemét on the Vojtina stage.
On Children’s Day, Vojtina will also host its own performances at two locations in the Nagyerdő, at the Békás Lake and the amusement park.
Photo: Krisztina Csatáry-Nagy
