Goethe Scenes

Full Circle

Marionettes and masks were the protagonists of the International Puppet Theatre Festival in Banja Luka. The Goethe-Institut Bosnia and Herzegovina invited ensembles from Nuremberg and Berlin to the Pannonian lowlands to present the latest trends in German puppetry. Ranging far beyond mere Punch and Judy shows, modern puppetry productions bring objects to life, creating access to even difficult subject matter; not all of it just for kids. In Banja Luka, circular faces danced in the “most blessed hiding place of those who secretly put their childhood in their pocket” (Max Reinhardt), creating new worlds with the aid of deus ex machina.