Békéscsaba is the capital of puppeteering
300 participants and 27 performances at the festival
Békéscsaba is the capital of puppeteering
The afternoon rain did not rearrange the programme; on 19th June with 300 participants the XVIth International Puppet Festival in Békéscsaba was opened. On the three-day show 9 foreign and 5 Hungarian companies perform with 27 productions; the performances will be evaluated by a jury of children as a novelty.
Report by Katalin Niedzielsky)
On the house of Konrád Lenkefi, the dreamer and father of the Napsugár Puppet Theatre a memorial tablet was inaugurated on Friday morning, where Péter Szarvas mayor emphasized the significance of the artist’s lifework and the vitality of the tradition. Zoltán Lenkefi said they were very attached to that house because they grew up there, spending more time at the workshop with his dad among the puppets, than at home.
The opening ceremony was held in front of the Ibsen House, where the Garaboncias stilt walkers led the way from Korzó Square while playing music, drumming, blowing saxophones calling the children to play together. Zsóka Csortán director, the artistic leader of the Napsugár Puppet Theatre, greeted the participants of the festival, the guests and introduced the chosen children who will evaluate the productions. The jury consists of five children, each gifted in something, in music, dancing or drawing.
Participants of the opening ceremony sang the festival song whose lyrics was written by Gábor Lovas, music was composed by Antal Rákóczi. After the opening ceremony, the company of Kaposvár presented János Pályi’s play Vitéz László, as it is the memorial year of the folk puppet figure. Than the audience saw and heard “Ládafia” from the Balassi Dance Ensemble, a Dutch puppet opera in the evening, finally Mátyás Pribojszki and his orchestra, the latter was the opening of this year’s Csaba Summer in the courtyard of the town hall.
On Saturday and Sunday Békéscsaba is the capital of puppetry, from 10am to 6pm entertainers entertain the audience before the Jókai Theatre, and the ensembles perform in the yard of the Ibsen House, in the theatre, on the the squre in front of it, in the small room of the Napsugár, in the Ibsen Studio Theatre. The Children Jury evaluates on Sunday from 6pm in the Ibsen House yard after “The bread of life” a performance of the Tatay Theatre from Budapest, and there will be the festival’s awarding ceremony.
Niedzielsky Katalin
