The 5th Zagreb Clown Festival, organized by Triko Cirkus Theater, takes place from May 9 to 12, during which the Croatian audience will have the opportunity to enjoy the world’s clown art. The theme of this year’s festival is Body and Prejudices, and the program takes place on two locations. The theater hall of KUC Travno will host selected shows of clowns and clowns from Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Denmark, while the space of Triko Cirkus Studio, in Vlaška 92, is reserved for Bill Irwin’s masterclass workshop, as well as for a live conversation with him, David Shiner , Gardi Hutter and John Towsen, an exhibition of posters by Marko Dješka, the unmissable Clown cafe – a place for socializing, fun and good vibes. Don’t miss the surprise concert on the last day of the festival.
Triko Cirkus Teatar brings the best of the world of clown art to the Croatian metropolis again this year with lots of laughter and enjoyment in a theater that our audience does not have the opportunity to see so often.
Zagreb, April 18, 2024 – For the fifth year in a row, in May, Zagreb becomes the center of clown art, energy, laughter and fun. From May 9 to 12, 2024, the 5th Zagreb Clown Festival will be held, bringing clowns and physical comedy artists – to Zagreb. The theme of this year’s festival is Body and Prejudice, and the performances will be available exclusively at KUC Travno, Božidar Magovac 17. In the four days of the festival, there are four performances on the program. As every year, the organizers of the festival Triko Cirkus Teatar and its artistic director and clown Iva Peter-Dragan are also organizing a special masterclass with the great American clown Bill Irwin, winner of the Broadway Tony and an actor we know from the Star Track series.
Four shows from four European countries guarantee a lot of laughter and fun.
On Thursday, May 9, at 8:00 p.m., the Danish play JUST WAIT, performed by Teater Gry, officially opens the festival. It is a play about the love of two naive souls who are trying to adapt to life. As a special gift to the audience, before the first show the festival will host a highschool performance AUDITION: CLOWNS WANTED. Organizers are thrilled to be able to show a performance that is so much in the style of theater clown and is performed by five highschool students from Čakovec.
On Friday, May 10, the Swiss legendary clown Gardi Hutter will come to the stage of the Travno Cultural Arts Center with the play THE BRAVE JANE. It is a play in which the audience will face the every day prejudices that a woman is a housewife, by getting to know Jane, an extraordinary person who builds the most beautiful heroic stories from her house and a pile of dirty laundry. On the third day of the festival, on Saturday, May 11, the Italian clown Guido Nardin thematizes the naked body as unprotected and exposed, and not as a provocation. It is all about the play in the show UGO SANCHEZ WANTS TO PLAY. The last festival show is on the program on Sunday, May 12, we will face a mutilated body in the show eMe by the Spanish clown Carl Mô. All performances, all four days, start at 8:00 p.m.
But that is not all…
As every year, the Zagreb Clown Festival also has its program in Vlaška 92, which starts also on May 9 at 9:00 p.m. with the opening of the exhibition of posters illustrated by Marko Dješka who has been creating images for the festival since the beggining. “It is important to us that the performances we choose are really in the manner of a theater clown, and thus we enable the audience to watch something that cannot be seen in our theaters so often. We are very happy that this year we managed to gather truly outstanding artists who will, in the four festival days, introduce us to non-verbal theater and everything that we as clowns try to convey to the audience. This year, artists from Spain, Switzerland, Italy and Denmark are coming, they are of different generations and we are happy to present a variety of performances and personalities. Everyone is at our festival for the first time. Our goal is to bring new artists year after year in order to ensure the best for our audience,” Iva Peter-Dragan, manager of Triko Cirkus Theater explains: “This year, we are also organizing a masterclass. On our 5th festival in a row, the workshop will be held by the great Bill Irwin, who will take us through what he says is a very physical process, because he is, after all, a legend of physical comedy. The workshop is reserved for participants who are professionally engaged in some kind of performance, it does not necessarily have to be physical comedy. The workshop is held as part of the CLOWN PLATFORM project, from May 8 to 10, i.e. the day before the festival and the first two days of the festival. On Friday, May 10th at 22.30 the organizers proudly announce an in person chat with four world famous clowns: Bill Irwin, David Shiner, Gardi Hutter and John Towsen. The chat will be broadcasted live on their Youtube page. The evening of May 11th is reserved for a screen version of Ire Seidenstein’s show Harlequin dreams. The organizers also announce a surprise concert on the last day of the festival, so don’t miss the last show and the closing of the festival. During the festival, the CLOWN CAFFE will be open, a meeting place for artists and the audience in Vlaška 92. The program of the 5th Zagreb Clown Festival is supported by the Kultura nova Foundation, the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia and the City of Zagreb. You can find the complete program on the Triko Circus Theater website.
The festival offers discounted festival tickets, unique for the fact that you can land it to your friend, mother, relative or spouse if you yourself cannot come one of the nights!
Tickets are available at: www.ulaznice.hr, reservations for media representatives, group and festival tickets can be purchased by contacting Triko Circus Theater at ivana.triko@gmail.com.
Venue: KUC Travno, Božidara Magovca 17, Zagreb and Triko Cirkus Studio, Vlaška 92, Zagreb