The 2nd Igralke Festival begins – in Zoom + Igralke edition!

Last year, we held the first Igralke Festival: 5 Years, 5 Plays celebrating our first five years by presenting five productions created during that period. This year, our festival joins forces with Zoom, Rijeka’s long-established festival of contemporary performing arts. Over seven days, from September 28 to October 4, audiences can enjoy seven performances and one video installation — and admission to all events is free, with mandatory ticket reservations via an online form.

Our selection opens the festival, spotlighting young authors from the region. The festival kicks off on Sunday, 28 September, at KUC Kalvarija with the music-based monodrama performance Birds-Spies by Rajna Racz and Marin Živković. Young Zagreb-based director and poet Rajna Racz (yes, the director of our play “Mothers”) creates a unique poetic theatre where music, drama, visuals, and movement intertwine the mythical and the political. In this piece, through the figure of the prophetess Cassandra (performed by Fabijan Komljenović), various historically censored or marginalized voices speak out — with a special place given to the poetry of Palestinian poets. The director has dedicated this performance to the recognition of Palestine.

On Monday, 29 September, at Filodrammatica, we’ll see Under Control, a solo performance by young Slovenian performer Luka Piletič. This witty solo, using elements of contemporary clowning, playfully explores our everyday attempts to bring life under control — something we can all relate to. Trained in physical theatre and clowning, Piletič brings a refreshingly direct and vulnerable performance style that captivates through humor, absurdity, and sincerity.

On Tuesday, 30 September, Filodrammatica hosts the award-winning independent Serbian production How I Learned to Drive, written by Paula Vogel and directed by Tara Manić. This intimate chamber drama features a virtuosic acting duo (Marta Bogosavljević and Svetozar Cvetković) who, through the relationship between Uncle Peck and Li’le Bit, confront us with the complexities of female coming-of-age and the healing of childhood trauma. Powerful and deeply moving, this play — which has won around ten awards at festivals across the region — leaves audiences breathless.

We’re also presenting the video installation Chocolina Pornocabin by young Slovenian author and actress Lina Akif, which can be visited from 29 September to 4 October between 5 PM and 8 PM in the Filodrammatica foyer. With wit, sharpness, and generational insight, Akif tackles the housing crisis and contemporary politics. Blending her life and art, she has created a series of video works in a porn-burlesque and feminist manner — available both as an installation and on OnlyFans — through which she humorously strives to earn a few euros for her future apartment. Her wish is to become the first Black woman in Slovenia to buy her own apartment.

After the Igralke Festival segment, from 1 to 4 October, the Zoom Festival program continues, focusing on hybrid forms and new performance tendencies in Croatia and abroad.

On Wednesday, 1 October, Slovenian musician and media artist Luka Prinčič will present a lecture-performance BeYourOwnPlatform at Filodrammatica, exploring how musicians can take control of their work and avoid dependency on unstable, capital-driven platforms. Presenting inclusive strategies and practical tools for sustainable independence and resilience, Prinčič offers a critical perspective on today’s music industry.

The Croatian-French artistic duo Barbara Matijević and Giuseppe Chico will perform Screenagers Vol. 2 on Thursday, 2 October, at HKD Sušak. Their interactive DIY musical explores — in a playful and inventive way — the generation defined by the term combining screen and teenager. The audience participates via their own smartphones as the performer turns her online activity into songs, shaping them into a unique, epic story.

A day later, on Friday, 3 October, the versatile Slovenian performer Nataša Živković will present her solo project Sonny to Rijeka’s audience. The performance explores the phenomenon of sworn virgins — women from remote areas of Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, and Metohija who took on male roles to survive in their societies. Živković responds to this phenomenon with a drag-informed reflection on the world we live in and the systems we (un)consciously uphold.

On the final day, the festival returns to KUC Kalvarija. After nine years, the Technoburlesque Image Snatchers comes back to Rijeka on Saturday, 4 October, performed by The Feminalz Collective. Described as “a rare and consistent presence in the Slovenian contemporary performance scene, dedicated to exploring and developing burlesque and cabaret”, the show challenges themes such as national identity, machismo, political populism, gender stereotypes, and media melodrama — pushing the boundaries of burlesque.

👉 You can view the full program here.