INTERNATIONAL DRAMA COLONY IN GROZNJAN, ISTRIA, CROATIA

The International Drama Colony is considered among one of the most attractive programmes of the Croatian Centre ITI. It was launched in 1999 with the ambition of exploring and promoting foreign and domestic plays through stage readings.

This year International Drama Colony will be held from 2nd to 8th July in organization of Croatian ITI Centre and Network of Emerging Arts Professionals of the ITI.

The participants are from different countries of the world. After the announcement of the competition „the short forms on the theme conflict“ for playwrights, Croatian ITI Centre selected three plays: „Marooned“ by Anita Čeko from Croatia, „In the Jungle of the Intestinal Flora“ by Eva Kamchevska from Macedonia and „Where are we going?“ by Svetlana Lasky from Armenia.

Also Croatian ITI Centre made the international selection among the actors so the participants are from Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Switzerland. The director for stage reading of the selected plays is Morana Novosel, Croatian young theatre director, and Taiwo Afolabi, Canadian drama artist. The dramaturgist of the project is Nikolina Rafaj, student of dramaturgy from Croatia. The producer of program International Drama Colony is Nina Križan from Croatian ITI Centre.

The residency program will present young and emerging playwrights and actors an opportunity for staging their plays. The residency program is intriguing and attractive as it is set in the environment of the medieval Istrian town of Grožnjan. The stage reading of the plays is scheduled for 7th July 2018. in Groznjan, Istria.

PARTICIPANTS:

MORANA NOVOSEL, Croatia, graduated Theatre Directing at Academy of drama art in Zagreb

NIKOLINA RAFAJ, Croatia, graduated Anthropology at Faculty of philosophy in Zagreb and BA Dramaturgy at Academy of drama art in Zagreb

TAIWO AFOLABI, Nigeria/ Canada, his doctoral research in Canada broadly focuses on forces migration and internal displacement. As director, he engages theatre to explore ways to develop a deeper understanding of the role and influence of territorial border in forced migration, displacement, and intervention. He is the founder and director of Theatre Emissary International, co-coordinator of Network of Emerging Arts Professionals of the ITI/UNESCO.

ANITA ČEKO, Croatia, graduated Psychology at Faculty of philosophy in Zagreb and Dramaturgy at Academy of drama art in Zagreb

EVA KAMCEVSKA, Macedonia, graduated from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Skopje, Macedonia, studied to be a playwright and a scriptwriter; graduated from VFS – Writing for Film and TV department

AWESTA ZARIF, Afghanistan/US, graduated at Boston University School of Theatre

MARIANANDA SCHEMPP, Peru/ Switzerland, graduated Acting at HFS “Ernst Busch” in Berlin

DAMJAN ŠIMIĆ, Croatia, graduated Acting at Academy of drama art in Zagreb

MENYAHEL TESHOME CHERU, Ethiopia, Actor and Lecturer of Theater Arts at Wolkite University.