This year's Sterija theater in Novi Sad will be without the usual international program "Circles".
This means that the 71st Sterija theaters will be a festival of exclusively national drama, without foreign plays based on texts by foreign authors in the "Circles" program.
Main reason
Miroslav Radonjić, the director of Sterija Theater, tells Vreme that "the main reason why there will be no 'Circles' as part of the 71st Sterija Theater is the fact that the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia did not announce a competition for theater creativity for 2026. Given that we cannot count on these funds, which in the previous few years usually amounted to 5.000.000 dinars per year (excluding 2025), we had to that as responsible people we face these circumstances and adapt the program to the current financial situation".
Photo: Sterijino pozorjeMiroslav Radonjic
Last year, the Ministry of Culture did announce a competition for co-financing of theater projects, but to this day it has not announced the result of that competition, and thus did not distribute the corresponding budget.
Also last year, Provincial government decided not to finance the program of Steria's theater, namely the jubilee program - 70.
Provincial Government Punishment
Sterija's theater is a pillar of the Serbian cultural scene and therefore the provincial one, the most important national drama festival, so that decision caused a huge public outcry. The provincial government explained that the funds for the realization of the 70th Sterija Theater "exceed the possibility of financing in this competition", but everyone knew that it was actually a punishment for the Theater for disobedience, for supporting student protests and their demands.
The Jubilee 70th Pozorje was held, with all its programs, "the financial structure was closed for the worst", says Miroslav Radonjić.
However, this year, in a situation where they will lack money from the Province and the Ministry, the Sterija Theater decided to deprive themselves of the performances they would invite to "Circles" and to reduce the "Youth Theater" program. They need about 6.000.000 dinars for the three performances of "Krugov", and "Pozorje mladih", a program that involves a five-day stay of 120 students at Pozorje, this year will only have public readings of students' dramatic works performed by their colleagues from Novi Sad.
Budget of the City of Novi Sad
Miroslav Radonjić notes that regardless of the Ministry of Culture and the Provincial Government, the Sterija Theater festival (besides the Pozorje festival has a dozen other activities) has the largest budget of all national theater festivals in the region, and this year also of the international Bitef, due to the budget it receives from the City of Novi Sad, its founder. That is about 60,000,000 dinars.
And yet, that money is not enough to close the financial structure. Miroslav Radonjić expects that the "Circles" are only on a temporary break, and that next year everything will be the same again.
"Circles" was founded in 2004 as an international program of the Sterija Theatre, and was introduced by Ivan Medenica, who was a selector at the time. The "Circles" feature performances from abroad based on the works of foreign authors. Since 2012, the selectors have mostly chosen plays from the countries of the former Yugoslavia, based on dramatic texts by writers from those countries, for this program.
This year's selection
Svetislav Goncic, the selector of the program of this year's 71st Sterija Theater, explaining his choice, stated that unfortunately there was no space for the international selection "Circles", so his focus was on local plays based on the texts of local playwrights.
He chose for the main competition program eight plays which, as he stated, meet the criteria of his selection: apart from having exceptional artistic qualities, they establish communication with the audience in the best way.
The selection was awarded My theater, an author's project by Boris Liješević, produced by Atelje 212, because, as Goncić explained, it is unique in terms of form, theme and the issues it deals with. Then Humor Center Đorđe Kosić, directed by Olja Đorđević and performed by the Drama ensemble of the National Theater in Belgrade, because it was created on the basis of documentary material and deals with real events and personalities in occupied Belgrade during the Second World War.
There it is Mrs. Nola Isidore Sekulić, directed by Sonja Petrović of the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad, because the character of the protagonist "connects with a modern woman in the fight for posterity".
The selection also includes A professional by the playwright and director Dušan Kovačević, performed by Zvezdar Theater, which after 35 years since the first performance still "tells the story of life and the fight for new freedoms", as well as a complex dramatic reading Quiet from two to six. Sofije Dimitrijević directed by Tara Mitrović and produced by the Hartefakt house, which, in Goncić's opinion, is distinguished by its "exceptional literary basis, directorial courage and acting skills, as well as the original project of Đorđe Nešović Why is he laughing? of the Sombor National Theater because it "strongly and emotionally illuminates life with autism".
In addition to the listed ones, Svetislav Goncić also proposed two foreign plays - according to Sterija's theater proposals, the competitive selection can include plays from our country and abroad based on the works of local authors.
These are all-time Madam Minister Branislav Nušić directed by Veljko Mićunović and produced by the Slovenian National Theater in Maribor, because in it, even after a century, "the illusions, ambitions and desires of an individual to become someone, regardless of their own abilities and intellectual capacity, are recognized".
And Milena Marković's famous text Rails directed by Milan Nešković and produced by the National Theater of the Republic of Srpska, because the characters of this play, explained Svetislav Goncić, grow up in the nineties in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and the metaphor of violence that accompanies the play reminds again and again that nothing has been done to make the world better than it is.
A year of Pozorje without "Circles" does not suit anyone, except for a part of the Vojvodina and Serbian public who have seen an excess in the national drama festival since the first day of this international program.
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