The 17th edition of the Desire Central Station Festival will take place in Subotica from 18 to 23 November.
The 17th edition of the Desire Central Station Festival, which takes place on the Jadran stage of the National Theatre Subotica and in the Deže Kostolanji/Kosztolányi Dezső Theatre, will include work by Oliver Frljić, Boris Liješević, Jasna Žmak and festival director András Urbán.
This year’s festival is held under the slogan Lupus in fabula. András Urbán explained at the press conference that the phrase is used in an aesthetic context: “The essence lies in the story, in the work itself. This year, we have performances that perhaps aim more directly to tell stories, but in any case, it means that the core is in art itself. I believe that artists, through their art, respond to reality. Every work of art carries its own truth within it. It is, in fact, an artistic reaction to reality.”
The festival opens on Tuesday, 18 November with My Theatre, a project written and directed by Boris Liješević, produced by Atelje 212 from Belgrade. It reflects on the essence of theatre itself, its performers, spectators, and the fragile line between reality and performance. The same evening, the French-Italian artist Valentina Cortese presents her solo performance Lento e Violento, a physical and emotional journey that moves between tenderness and brutality, stillness and eruption. The day after, audiences will have another chance to experience Lento e Violento.
Oliver Frljić’s Incubator
The programme continues on Thursday, 20 November, with The Incubator by Mladinsko Theatre from Ljubljana, directed by Oliver Frljić. Subtitled a lullaby for the children who learned, before words, the grammar of death, the piece connects the symbolism of the incubator and the brutal present of the war in Gaza. Later that evening, the Budapest-based company TranzDanz will perform Hermes, a choreographic work by Gerzson Péter Kovács that intertwines myth and movement in a reflection on transformation and communication.
The next day, Hungarian State Theatre, Cluj (Romania) presents Jon Fosse’s I Am the Wind, directed by Gábor Tompa – a meditative and poetic play about existence. The evening also features This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours by Jasna Žmak, which examines how personal truths and collective narratives intersect in the intimate spaces of language and performance.
The penultimate day brings the Örkény István Theatre from Budapest with The Most Beautiful Night of the Soul, based on the writings of Sándor Jászberényi (writer and war correspondent who has worked in Iraq, Chad, Yemen, Libya, Nigeria and Gaza) and directed by Csaba Polgár. It is a reflection on war, loss, and the fragile dignity of survival. The day concludes with Cabaret Piccolo Grande: Utopia, a project by András Urbán and the Novi Sad Theatre, combining music, performance, and social commentary in the director’s signature energetic style.
The festival closes with a concert by the Subotica Big Band, conducted by Géza Kucsera Jr.
For more information on the festival, visit: desirefestival.eu
Divna Stojanov is a dramaturg and playwright. She writes mainly for children and young people.
