68 Original Works Submitted to the Competition for the Selection of Three New Original Plays

Shadow Pandemic: Hidden Voices

At the end of October, the Maribor Theatre Festival in cooperation with the Zagreb Youth Theatre and the Belgrade Drama Theatre announced an open call for the selection of three new plays as part of the international project Shadow Pandemic: Hidden Voices. 68 original works were received on the closing date, 18 January 2023. The competition was open to female authors residing in the countries of the European Union and in the countries included in the Creative Europe Programme. The theme of the competition was the problem of violence against women during the closure of public life due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A seven-member jury composed of Vilma Štritof, Rok Andres, Biljana Srbljanović, Tanja Šljivar, Tomislav Zajec, Selma Spahić, and Ivana Vuković will select the three awarded and consequently staged texts (one from each country). The prize-winning authors will receive a financial award. The results of the competition will be announced by 28 February 2023.

The selected texts will be translated into English and published in an online format whereas the omnibus play/performance, based on the award-winning texts as an integral part of the production, will be directed by Selma Spahić. The play will be performed in spring 2024 in Zagreb, Belgrade, and Maribor, with touring abroad (Poland, Czech Republic) planned.