freedom and protests rolled all over the whole of Europe, from West to East, but it was crushed on the streets of Prague by the tanks of the USSR. It was precisely because of this that the arrival of Soviet plays prompted a mini-de- monstration in front of Atelier 212, which included the participations of Dušan Makavejev and his wife Bojana Marjan, Branko Vučićević, and the monster of Želimir Žilnik, which was transformed into a tank with the help of a shuttle. During performances, actors often invited audience members to come on stage, or they them- selves descended among the au- dience, splashed the public with water, sprinkled them with flour, threw eggs at them... Thus once Novi Sad-based architect Čeda Radović responded to being hit with a bamboo stick by a Japa- nese actor by kicking back, whi- ch caused a general brawl and he ended up injured in the hos- pital. “A wonderful man, we ne- ver found anyone so ready to co- operate with the actors,” joked the thrilled Japanese actors. Bitef has changed its favouri- te troupes and theatres over the years, with loves being born and dying. However, German dire- ctors have always remained loyal to this Belgrade festival. Testi- fying to this fact is Vera Konjović. - Germans served in some moments to quickly jump in for us when something failed, when someone cancelled their partici- pation for any reason. You just pick up the phone and say, “save us!” and they come. The ‘90s came, but still the Germans did not give up. And finally, one visionary de- sire of Jovan Ćirilov, uttered so- metime towards the end of his life, and all are hopeful, for a long life of his darling - Bitef: - It would be ideal to make a utopian choice selection in which no one from abroad would know the authors that we discovered somewhere in the world. Sounds like a return to the beginning, but by now you reali- se what the beginning was like... The one that unstoppably and excitedly rolls on for half a cen- tury. Long live Bitef for at least as long again!
Ovogodišnji, 50. Bitef igraće se pod sloganom „Na leđima mahnitog bika“ This year’s 50th Bitef will be performed under the slogan “On the back of the mad bull”
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