The Creating Theatre seminar was again this year led by stage director Nina Kleflin from Zagreb. Under Ms Kleflin’s expert leadership the participating theatre amateurs presented an adaptation of Ivo Brešan’s Staging Hamlet in the Village of Mrduša Donja for the final evening’s demonstration class. Antonio Gregurović, a student from Kotor, and Ivana Džojić from Orašje, demonstrated a particular level of excellence.
The CHF this summer hosted the jubilee twentieth Creating Theatre seminar. Nives Antoljak, the head of this CHF summer programme, has pooled Croatian culture enthusiasts from different parts of the world:Canada, the Netherlands, France, Montenegro, Vojvodina and Bosnia-Herzegovina (Rama and Orašje). The participants of the seminar come from diverse personal and professional backgrounds, including PhD holders in the sciences, teachers, computer information specialists, retirees, media experts and students, but share a common love of the theatre arts and the Croatian language. In the tranquillity of the monastery of St Paul the Anchorite on the islet of Galovac the participants spent the time from the 7th to 15th of July learning the theory and practical aspects of the magic created by theatre and how to set up and develop theatre troupes in the places they live and work.
The seminar is targeted to theatre enthusiasts that wish to use theatre as a medium through which to delve into elements of Croatian cultural identity and to develop the culture of the elocution of the Standard Croatian Language and of the various dialects and local vernaculars used among our indigenous minority communities in other European countries. The strength of this CHF programme lies in theatre as a medium, given its ability to synthesise numerous arts and to offer diverse forms of cultural activity. According to Ms Antoljak the organisers always look to bring Croatian literature into the mix because the participants live far from everyday Croatian life and certainly deserve to be exposed to some things less familiar to them.
The Creating Theatre seminar was again this year led by stage director Nina Kleflin from Zagreb. As an experienced director with over a hundred plays under her belt, and as a tried and tested teacher and lecturer, she led the participants through all of the phases of creating a stage play.
On the 14th of July and under Ms Kleflin’s expert leadership the participating theatre amateurs presented an adaptation of Ivo Brešan’s Staging Hamlet in the Village of Mrduša Donja for the final evening’s demonstration class. The entire group put on a brilliant show with Antonio Gregurović, a student from Kotor, and Ivana Džojić from Orašje, demonstrating a particular level of excellence, rewarded by ovations and applause from the audience. The local inhabitants of this small island offered a song by way of their gift for the 20th anniversary of this event, with Ms Antoljak presenting all the participants with CHF certificates of appreciation.
By: Nada Koturić