OPENING OF THE EXHIBITION

On the opening day of the festival, the photo exhibition ‘Pictures from Puppet Shows across Serbia’ was presented at 6.30 pm at the foyer of the Pinocchio Puppet Theatre. The public was welcomed by the theatre’s director, Igor Bojović. Mr  Radoslav Lazić addressed the audience next and brought us back to the early days of this theatre and opened the exhibition. Actress Marina Dimitrijević performed part of Plato’s speech by imitating a puppet.

OPENING OF THE FESTIVAL

Yesterday’s grand opening ceremony marked the 40th anniversary of the Festival of Monodrama and Mime. The photo exhibition ‘Pictures from Puppet Shows across Serbia’ was opened at 6.30 pm and at 7.30 Borislav Balać, general manager of the festival, addressed the audience and announced the next speaker, Dušan Kovačević. Mr Kovačević greeted the audience and declared the festival officially opened. The program was led by Nada Jeftenić whereas Anđela Jovanović announced the main and accompanying program of the festival. The first show of the festival ‘Spoilsport’, starring Ljubomir Bandović, was met with roaring applause and Mr Bandović was called for an encore six times. The next show ‘The Bulgarian Clowns’ and the amazing Koychev family made the audience laugh and cheer while many  of the viewers themselves participated in various mime acts. The star of the night was the youngest family member, the incredible Aleks Koychev, whose extraordinary talent is way beyond his years. The audience was thrilled by his act ‘Lord of the Masks’. The last show of the first day of competition was Ana Maljević’s play ‘The Fatal Lies of Sol Sarfati’. The honorary awards were given to the contestants by the festival’s selector, Milovan Zdravković.