27 September 2018

At the invitation of the China Center of the International Puppet Association and the Serbian International Children's Theatre Festival, the delegation comprising 13 teachers and students of the puppet major of the Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA) attended the 25th International Children's Theatre Arts Festival in Subotica, Serbia from 16 to 22 September, Beijing time.

The delegation arrived in Subotica in the afternoon of 16 September local time, and was invited to participate in the opening ceremony of the China Chengdu Puppet and Shadow Puppet Museum together with the Cultural Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Serbia and the President of Subotica Open University. On the same evening, the teachers and students of STA attended the opening ceremony of the 25th International Children's Theatre Festival at which the representative of the organizers and the Cultural Counselors of the Chinese Embassy in Serbia gave speeches and expressed high expectations for the festival.

The Festival invited art groups and artists from all over the world to carry out exchanges in various forms, such as performances, lectures, exhibitions and workshops, with brilliant programs. The teachers and students of STA were invited to watch the wonderful performances of performers from Turkey, Hungary, Spain, Serbia, Croatia and China Children's Art Theatre, which deepen their understanding of children's drama.

On the evening of 20 September local time, the teachers and students of STA performed at the Subotica National Art Theatre. The repertoire included two shadow puppet shows and three puppet shows. During the performance, the theatre was a full house. The performance also enabled foreign children and their parents to have a more intuitive appreciation of the charm of the traditional Chinese culture. The audience's enthusiastic applause and cheering were the highest recognition for the performers. At the end of the performance, foreign friends came to the stage to discuss the puppet manipulation and performance with the STA delegation, and expressed the desire to come to China to learn about Chinese culture.
The closing ceremony of this International Children's Theatre Festival was held at the Subotica National Art Theatre on the evening of 12 September local time. The performance of STA won the Special Program Award of the 25th International Children's Theatre Festival.