In his letter to the last year’s Shakespeare Festival, Peter Brook, one of the greatest directors of the 20th century, wrote: “Shakespeare is a phenomenon, like the Sun and the Moon … his plays can speak directly to people of every race and every level, at every moment of world history”.
Convinced that Shakespeare is still needed, he wanted to address a few words in support of a small, unknown festival which is struggling to survive with Shakespeare.
How much do we really need Shakespeare today? How much do we need theatre or art? The audience which comes for the fourth year to a beautiful setting of ‘Villa Stankovic’ in Cortanovci certainly does.
In just three years of its existence, Shakespeare Festival has hosted theatre troupes from India, Great Britain, Portugal, Finland, Greece, Iran, Macedonia, the USA, Slovenia, Belarus … With their performances they all seemed to have brought a small nugget of gold and left it here with us. This year, our guests will be the theatres of China and Great Britain, with representations of ”Macbeth” and “Henry V”. It will be another opportunity for a unique theatrical experience, a completely new and unexpected experience. This is why it is important to fight for the Shakespeare festival in spite of everything.
Nikita Milivojević,
founder and manager of “Shakespeare Festival” in Serbia