International Festival Of Puppetry Poland Calls For Puppetry Production, Puppetry Critics

The International Festival of Puppetry Schools PUPPETNOPUPPET Poland, in collaboration with the AICT Polska and the Association of Polish Stage Artistes’ Puppet Theatre Section has called for submissions of puppetry productions to perform at the 11th edition of the festival, and a puppetry theatre critics workshop scheduled to hold June 18 to 22, 2024, in Bialystok, Poland.

Organized by the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art Warsaw Branch Campus, Bialystok, in collaboration with the Bialystok Puppeteers Association, and the Bialystok Puppet Theatre, the biennial event, established in 2002, is aimed at the promoting the art of puppetry theatre globally.

This it does through calls for professional, and student puppetry productions at every edition, in addition to the training of young critics to aid the popularization and development of the animated theatre form.

This year, with its theme of Community – the festival is emphasizing the importance of teamwork and joint action – which aligns with the festival’s key objective – ‘to unite, co-exist and act artistically beyond all divisions and differences’.

With (teamwork and joint action) as overriding values of the puppetry theatre (theatre of the animated visual form), the festival seeks to “create a safe space for joint artistic creation, as well as for the exchange of ideas and views, which despite our individual differences, can bring us together in a substantive discussion.

“We are curious about you, your world, your sensitivity and imagination,” said Festival Art Director and Vice Rector of the National Academy of Dramatic Art Warsaw, Professor Marta Rau.

Similarly, theatre critics aged 18 to 40, are encouraged to apply for the Puppetry Theatre Critic Workshop organized by the AICT Polska in collaboration with the Puppet Theatre Section of the Association of Polish Stage Artistes.

The workshop will select five critics each to its three working groups – of English, French and Polish languages.

Application to the workshop is open till April 30, 2024, while the workshop will hold simultaneously with the Puppetry Festival June 18 to 22, in Bialystok. Selected applicants will receive free pass to all the shows and discussions that will take place during the festival.

“Contemporary Puppet Theatre and Form Theatre require knowledge and skills to describe and analyze performances that are different to that of the dramatic theatre. This type of is becoming more and more exciting and meaningful.

“Unfortunately, still few critics can describe it. That is why we decided to organize workshops on puppetry theatre criticism in Poland – a country with a significant role and history of puppet theatre – in Bialystok, known as the ‘Polish Capital of Puppetry’ during one of the essential puppetry festivals in Europe,” said Vice President of Polish Section IATC, Konrad Szczebiot.