11th Shakespeare Festival in Serbia programme

 

The program of the festival consists of contemporary world productions of Shakespeare’s works. The festival takes place every year at the end of June, in an authentic, medieval-like ambience of the residence Villa Stanković (Čortanovci, the Municipality of Inđija).

The main idea of the festival, which is one of a kind in our country, is to cherish the works of the world’s greatest playwright by presenting an authentic theatre program under the open sky, as it was done in Shakespeare’s times.

The founding of the Shakespeare Festival in Serbia was initiated by theatre director Nikita Milivojević after the premiere of his play „Henry VI” at the famous Globe Theatre in London in May 2012. In addition to the desire to present Shakespeare to us in a new way, Nikita Milivojević was guided by the idea of making the state residence Villa Stanković – an exceptional space which was closed to the public – an attractive cultural and touristic place.

The founder of the festival says:

The idea of establishing the Shakespeare Festival was born in the right place: in Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London. It was there that I found out more about the numerous Shakespeare festivals that took place around the world, and somehow intuitively thought of Villa Stanković as an ideal place for such a festival in our country. In a way, I could say that the venue actually chose the writer, and then together they started the idea of the festival. Of course, the actual, essential motive to create a Shakespeare festival is, of course, Shakespeare. Today, it is something like a universal word for theatres around the entire planet. It seems that even those who have never been to the theatre have heard of Shakespeare. He is undoubtedly the most performed playwright of all time, being performed around the world for almost 400 years. Obviously, each time in its own way constantly discovers and recognizes something authentic in his works. Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, Richard, Lear, Ophelia, Juliet … are always around, we just need to see them and recognize them.

In 2019, by the decision of the international jury of the European Festival Association, Shakespeare Festival was recognized as one of the outstanding art festivals of Europe – EFFE Label 2019 / 2020.

In 2021, Shakespeare Festival won the recognition of the Provincial Government „The Best of Vojvodina” as one of the most significant provincial manifestations for the international promotion of Vojvodina and Serbia.

During the previous ten years of the Shakespeare Festival, 51 theatres from 22 countries of the world (Great Britain, the USA, Greece, Italy, Georgia, Belarus, Iran, India, Portugal, Macedonia, Slovenia, China, Croatia, Germany, France, Finland) have successfully participated in the festival. We have welcomed the famous Shakespear’s Globe (London, Great Britain), Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord (Paris, France), Belarus Free Theatre (London, Great Britain), Tang Shu Wing Theatre Studio (Hong Kong, China) etc.

Over the past ten years, the number of visitors to the Shakespeare Festival has exceeded 20,000.

The patrons of the Shakespeare Festival are the Provincial Government, the Municipality of Inđija, the City of Novi Sad, the Ministry of Culture, UNIQA Insurance.

… What I think is important and should remain as our basic idea, is that we want to see as many different interpretations as possible at the festival: how everyone else plays Shakespeare, why they play his works, what they find in them … and finally – where we are in all this, our times, our theatre.

… The fact that it takes place far from institutional theatres makes the Shakespeare Festival special. I see a desire for a different theatrical experience in people who come to this beautiful ambience. More and more, we want to get out of the city and, at least for a moment, find ourselves in different surroundings, experience something different from the routine, the quotidian …

Nikita Milivojević, founder and director of the Shakespeare Festival

 

Full programme is available on ŠEKSPIR FESTIVAL – Šekspir festival (sekspirfestival.org)