Hamlet in Cortanovci – The first Shakespearean Festival in Serbia, 19 - 25 June

(Photo: sekspirfestival.org)

English, American, Georgian, Greek, Finnish, Slovenian and Serbian theatres will take part in it, as well as significant Shakespearologists, lecturers and artists.

Well known London’s "Globe Theatre" will open the festival with a play "Hamlet", within its world tour on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth.

State Armenian drama theatre "Kote Marjanisvili" from Tbilisi participates with a comedy "As you like it", theatre from Ljubljana (Mestno gledalisce ljubljansko) performs "The Taming of the Shrew", a theatre group "Paradise bird" from Athens shows an adaptation and choreography of "Romeo and Juliet", Nina Salinen (Helsinki/Los Angeles) plays "Poor, poor Lear".

Actors from Belgrade National theatre will perform a popular play "Henry VI", while students from Academy of Arts in Novi Sad will show its project "Museum Shakespeare".

As the organizer of "Itaka Art Center" points out, the idea of the festival, unique in this part of Europe, is to cherish works of the greatest drama writer in the world, performing attractive theatre plays in the open-air, as it was in Shakespeare’s time. Plays will be performed in one of the most beautiful summer mansions in Serbia, built on the banks of the river Danube, modeled on Lombardy medieval castles.

Director Nikola Milivojevic initiated the idea of making a festival after the premiere of his play "Henry VI" in the "Globe Theatre" on Cultural Olympics 2012. Apart from great love for Shakespeare, Milivojevic wanted "Villa Stankovic" to become an attractive cultural and tourist place.

"Itaka Art Center" supports cultural development of Indjija through art forms and international cooperation.

Sponsors of the festival are Province of Vojvodina – Secretariat for Culture, Municipality of Indjija and Serbian Ministry of Culture and Information. Program is realized in cooperation with Cultural Centre of Indjija and Youth Theatre form Novi Sad.

Further information about the program is available on the official site of the Shakespearean Festival.