SELECTION
32nd FESTIVAL OF ECOLOGICAL THEATRE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH “PLAYBREAK”

COMPETITION SELECTION

The Artistic Board of the Festival of Ecological Theatre for Children and Youth reviewed more than 80 applications from around the world, representing 30 countries, submitted in response to the Open Call for Performances for the 32nd FEP, which was open from 1st of September till 15th of October 2025, and selected the following productions:

• 1. „Ninabu“ // Shooma, Bjelovar, Croatia
  

  Dance performance for babies (3-18 months old)

  
  

  ● The audience is limited to 15 babies per performance. (Each baby may be accompanied by two adults.)

  

  Ninabu is a multisensory performance for babies aged 3 to 18 months and their adults. It offers a specially designed experience and space where audiences can fully engage - watching, listening, touching, crawling, and feeling safe. Unfolding as an intimate collage of movement, dance, voice, song, music, scent, interactive play, and tactile and visual objects, Ninabu invites the audience on a journey of imagination in which each participant creates their own path, inspired by a personal sensory experience.
  
  Concept and choreography: Irma Unušić
  Music: Vanesa Petrac, Ivan Marojević
  Set and costumes: Selena Gazda, Irma Unušić
  Visuals: Petra Zlonoga
  Mentorship: Katja Povše
  Performing: Vanesa Petrac, Irma Unušić
  
  

  
  
  

• 2. „Catbird“ / “Sha Doizo” // Le Friiix Club, Bordeaux, France
  

  Bare-handed theatre for 1+

  
  ● The audience is limited to 80 children per performance.

  
  
  
  

  Catbird is the story of an imaginary animal who lives in an imaginary garden. Neither cat, nor finger, nor bird, Catbird is a bit of all of these things at the same time. He would love to fly, but a cat doesn't fly. He would love to meow, but a finger doesn't meow. One day, Catbird meets a treble clef. It's the beginning of a great adventure… How far will they go? Until they reach for the moon?
  
  Director: Frédéric Dyonnet
  Set design: Maureen Brown
  Musical composition: Jacques Ballue
  Lighting design: Erwan Costadau
  Production: Tiphaine Vilain
  Performing: Frédéric Dyonnet
  
  The guest performance was realized in cooperation with the French Institute in Serbia and the Teatroskop regional program.

  

• 3. „Birth Days“ / “U-rodziny” // Hollobiont Collective, Poznań, Poland
  

  Dance performance for 3+

  
  ● The audience is limited to 50 children per performance.

  

  Birth Days is a dance performance exploring pregnancy and birth. It is a poetic journey through the mysterious acts of creation, the formation of the human body, and the awe-inspiring physiology of being born. It speaks of the intimate processes that shape new existences and unfold untold stories. A celebration of life as it emerges — an invitation to open ourselves to what it brings.
  
  Choreography: Hanna Bylka-Kanecka
  Music: Aleksandra Słyż
  Lighting design: Ewa Garniec
  Scenography consultation: Alicja Bielawska
  Plant-based rope dyeing: Ewa Garniec Złota
  Costume design: Angelina Janas-Jankowska
  Producers: Izabella Nowacka, Karolina Wycisk
  Performing: Janusz Orlik, Anna Steller
  
  The performance is co-organized by the Polish National Institute of Music and Dance as part of Poland Dances / Tournée Program, co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

  

• 4. „Little Blue and Little Yellow“ / “Mali modri in Mali rumeni” // Puppet theatre Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia
  

  Puppet theatre for 3+

  
  
  

  Little Blue and Little Yellow are the best of friends. Together, they go to school and play. One day, they embrace and become – green. They return home different, and are not recognized by their families. Little Blue and Little Yellow cry and cry — all the way to recognition. Through a dynamic interplay of colors, little and big theatregoers alike come face to face with many important questions about themselves and others.
  
  Author: Leo Lionni
  Director: Miha Golob
  Composer: Vasko Atanasovski
  Assistant directors: Natan Esku and Elena Volpi
  Lighting design: Miljenko Knezoci
  Sound design: Mitja Pastirk
  Puppet design: Primož Mihevc, Darka Erdelji, Mojca Bernjak
  Set design: Lucijan Jošt, Branko Caserman
  Performing: Miha Bezeljak, Anže Zevnik
  
  
  

  
  
  

• 5. „The Great Lake“ / “O Grande Lago” // Imaginar do Gigante, Portugal
  

  Object / visual theatre for 3+

  
  ● The audience is limited to 80 children per performance.

  

  At the North Pole, the colors flock in the skies and form a huge white mantle. Mother bear and her cub play together and plunge into the icy sea. But every day the cities are coming closer and closer and cause the thawing of their home. The mother bear and her cub need to leave. But where? That's what we're going to find out. Global warming and sea pollution have become one of the biggest problems on Earth. Based on the story of a family of polar bears, we present a work of art and environment, with manipulation of objects, puppets, and projected shadows.
  
  Direction and text: Pedro Saraiva
  Collaboration in the scene: Leonor Saraiva Brandão
  Music: Daily Misconceptions
  Scenography: Pedro Saraiva, Sofia Pera and Miguel Seabra
  Construction: Luís Miguel "Fausto"
  Sound design: Paulo Renato
  Scene photography and video: Mário Costa
  Puppet making: Carla Rosário
  Illustration, design and animation: Cátia Vidinhas
  Performing: Pedro Saraiva
  
  

• 6. „Birdies“ / “Lo Ptice” // Cirkusfera, Belgrade, Serbia
  

  Contemporary circus for 5+

  

  Using different juggling disciplines, we want to tell different stories. Different sizes of the balls we use speak of different events among birds and humans. Using abstract and peculiar symbols, we search for the truth. And the truth is always, in theater, in circus, in life; play. By the end of childhood, we wish to grow older and prove ourselves as serious grownups, but grownups can still enjoy playing, because play is forever a crucial part of our lives. And all meanings of play we reveal in this show. LObirds are imaginative flying creatures, which exist only by virtue of the acrobatic skills of the performers. If you wish to understand the problems of LObirds, it’s necessary to ask yourself in what way you are similar to them – because humans, like birds – love to play and learn about themselves and the world through play.
  
  Direction, dramaturgy: Danka Sekulović
  Set design: Milica Babić
  Music: Miljan Sekulović
  Photography: Strahinja Aćimović
  Performing: Filip Đikić, Milan Manić, Danka Sekulović
  
  The guest performance was supported by the Association Independent Culture Scene of Serbia (NKSS) and is part of the program of the festival Na sopstveni pogon.

  

• 7. „Andraks, Jepurs, and Other Most Important Monsters of Petrovgrad and Central Banat“ // National theatre „Toša Jovanović“, Zrenjanin, Serbia
  

  Drama/puppet theatre for 7+

  
  

  

  The Banat literary scene abounds in outstanding authors. Many of them are part of school textbooks and compulsory reading lists, thus becoming part of contemporary literature. Somewhat unjustly neglected among those is Vojislav Voja Despotov. According to critics, he belongs to a group of artists with multiple vocations. Primarily a poet, he also engaged in merging forms between literary and visual art, as well as contributing to essay writing, prose, and translation. In all these fields, he demonstrated a pronounced need not only to be contemporary and relevant, but always new and unusual. The Dust of Petrovgrad“ and „Andraks, Jepurs, and Other Most Important Monsters of Petrovgrad and Central Banat“ are works primarily intended for children, but also for adults. Because of their short and seemingly simple form, they have been described as “short novels”. Voja’s eclecticism, combined with his literary vignettes, resulted in scenic eclecticism in this theatre production. The performance includes elements of animation, but is not a conventional puppet show. It contains segments of black light theatre, that is, a play of light and darkness. Genre-wise, it can be defined as a thriller, crime drama, and horror. For each of these, the authors find an appropriate theatrical language. A special mark was left by Blagovesta Vasileva, who triumphed in bringing Voja’s world to life.
  
  Text: Nikola Zavišić, based on the novel by Voja Despotov
  Director: Nikola Zavišić
  Total design: Blagovesta Vasileva
  Lighting design: Nikola Zavišić and Robert Lacko
  Concept, ideas, additional textual interventions: Nikola Zavišić, Blagovesta Vasileva, Nataša Milišić, Snežana Popov, Marija Pantin, Kristian Kardoš, Predrag Grujić
  Performing: Nataša Milišić, Snežana Popov, Marija Pantin, Kristian Kardoš, Predrag Grujić
  
  

• 8. „Anger Management“// Joshua Monten Dance Company, Bern, Switzerland
  

  Dance performance for 12+

  
  

  

  The dance performance Anger Management is a celebration of the volcano inside each of us. Bright red and glistening, full of explosive force, fast and fearless — anger can be beautiful, especially when it's expressed through dance.
  
  Direction/choreography: Joshua Monten
  Costume: Catherine Voeffray
  Performing: Larissa de Villa, Hannah Thomas, Jack Wignall, Paco Ladrón de Guevara
  
  

• 9. „Muleum“ //Anica Petrović, Belgrade, Serbia
  

  Драмска представа за 15+

  
  ● The audience is limited to 80 young people per performance.

  

  The monodrama Muleum, based on the novel of the same name by Erlend Loe, tells the story of Julia, a cynical eighteen-year-old Norwegian girl who tries to find an eccentric way to kill herself after her family dies in a plane crash. Since Julia sees herself as an authentic and witty person, she is certain that her death must be the same way. During her journey around the world, she confronts the space of airports and airplanes, the last place where her family was alive. Does Julia find comfort and a new meaning in life?
  
  The monodrama addresses adolescent suicidality and the process of confronting the death of loved ones, and it examines whether and how love and support, in their various forms, can be healing and helpful in overcoming psychological struggles. The diary structure of the novel has been translated into a dramatic narrative with time jumps and flashbacks, allowing the protagonist Julia to reflect on her earlier, teenage decisions.
  
  Content Note: The performance explores the themes of loss and suicidal thoughts among young people in a distinctive way. Through a specific use of humour and a reflection on life values, the story creates space for a broader understanding of mental health.
  
  Text: Erlend Loe, Anica Petrović
  Director: Anica Petrović, Momčilo Miljković
  Set design: Stevan Ristić and Anica Petrović
  Lighting design: Stevan Lukić
  Composer: Dušan Tomić
  Language editor: Saša Latinović
  Performing: Anica Petrović
  

AWARDS

The Festival awards the “Good Tree” Award for the Best Performance, selected by the Professional Jury. The Jury also has the right to award up to three Special Awards for individual or collective achievements that particularly stand out.

In addition to the Professional Jury, awards are also given by the Children’s Jury and the Youth Jury, recognizing the performance that best resonates with children and the one that best resonates with young people.

After each performance, the audience gives its rating, and the performance with the highest average score receives the Audience Award.

NON-COMPETITION SELECTION

For the Non-Competition Selection, the Artistic Board of FEP selected two productions. For more than three decades, the Festival has sought to introduce audiences in Bačka Palanka to performances from different countries and cultures, creating opportunities to encounter contemporary theatre practices from around the world. At the same time, we believe it is equally important to present our guests with the work created in Bačka Palanka and, in doing so, encourage the development of the local theatre scene.

The first production in the Non-Competition Selection is a professional performance co-produced by FEP. Through its presentation at the Festival, FEP continues to develop its own programme of contemporary theatre production.

The second production is an exception to the rules of the Open Call for Performances for the 32nd FEP, which provides for the consideration of professional productions only. On this occasion, however, the Artistic Board decided to support and promote children's theatre-making in Bačka Palanka by including a production by the Drama Studio Proscenium in the Non-Competition Selection. As the only drama studio in the town dedicated to the continuous and systematic development of children's theatre, Proscenium plays an important role in nurturing new generations of theatre artists and audiences. Since the production promotes environmental awareness and responsibility towards nature, we believe its inclusion in the 32nd Festival of Ecological Theatre for Children and Youth is of particular significance:

• „Have I Ever Told You?“ // Festival of Ecological Theatre for Children and Youth (FEP) & National Theatre „Toša Jovanović“, Serbia
  

  Interactive Dance performance for 13+

  
  

  ● The audience is limited to 16 young people per performance.

  

  The play Have I Ever Told You? is an interactive dance monodrama for teenagers about childhood sexual abuse. It is a confession by a young woman, Ana, who describes the years of sexual abuse she endured — from early childhood to her first year at university. Through Ana’s confession and her younger sister Sofia’s reflection, we see how trauma can reside in the body long after the abuse ends — how everyday moments, familiar smells, or tastes can trigger its return — and, most importantly, how it affects a person’s life. Children, young people, and adults experience trauma daily, each in their own way: some quietly, some with shame, some with acceptance, some with sadness. But when trauma surfaces, support from others becomes crucial — understanding, empathy, and love. And the reassurance that we are not alone.
  
  An authorial project by choreographer Jovana Rakić, writer Aleksandra Jovanović, and director Sonja Petrović
  
  Sound designer: Nenad Kojić
  Set and lighting designer: Lucien Valle
  Expert project consultant: psychologist Jelena Sokić
  Performer: Aleksandra Arizanović
  
  Content Note: The performance addresses the topic of child sexual abuse. The content is suitable for audiences aged 13+ and approaches this important social issue with great care, without explicit or distressing scenes.
  
  The performance was created within the project FUSION – Contemporary Forms of Art and Sociability, a two-year initiative that supports and connects local independent organizations active in the fields of contemporary circus, dance, theatre, and social inclusion. The project was developed in collaboration with the French Institute in Serbia and the regional program Teatroscop, and was realized with the financial support of the French Embassy in Serbia.

  

• “The Little Prince”// Drama Studio “Proscenium”, Bačka Palanka
  

  Children’s theatre performance for children and adults

  
  

  

  “The Little Prince” is a touching stage adaptation performed by the youngest members of Drama Studio Proscenium, inspired by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's timeless masterpiece. Through encounters with extraordinary characters and a journey across different worlds, The Little Prince reminds us that love, friendship, kindness, and imagination are life's greatest values. Intended for both children and adults, the performance reminds us that what is truly essential can only be seen with the heart.
  
  Director: Marija Čutura
  Set Designer: Milan Bursać
  Costume Designer: Tanja Milanović
  Sound and Lighting: David Bajić
  Assistant Directors: Jelena Tuševljaković, Katarina Garamheđi
  Performing: Kolja Garamheđi, Mila Majstorović, Dragana Danić, Jana Svračić, Beba Zorić, Mia Ciganović, Mihaela Jovicki, Sara Đogatović, Milica Lekić, Miloš Tot, Nađa Grgić, Lana Milaković, Tara Galijaš, Natalija Tomičić, Sofija Stanković
  
  

The 32nd Festival of Ecological Theatre for Children and Youth was realized with grant funds from the REBOOTING project. The REBOOTING project is led by OPENS, together with partners SINHRO, SEC, BUM, and WEBIN, and is funded by the European Union.

FEP is also supported by the Reconstruction Women’s Fund (RFŽ) and the Municipality of Bačka Palanka.