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Theater festival for children and youth in Managua

ViaNica.com | Oct 16, 2009

Cinthia Membreño

A new edition of the National Theater Festival for Children and Youth (FENTIJ) will delight children and young Nicaraguans with a great number of theater plays by puppeteers and clowns. The presentations will be held in different spots of the city of Managua, from Saturday, October 17 until Sunday 25, in addition to parallel activities, such as conferences and workshops.

Camilo Cuellar, communication assessor of FENTIJ, stated that this festival has been held since 1995 and aims to entertain children and young Nicaraguans. "Probably, there is not an artistic discipline focused on children in Nicaragua", he claimed, who also explained that the cultural shows of these days do include children and young people but the shows are not created for them, just for adults.

The national groups that will participate are Grupo Pioneros de Fénix, Teatro de Títeres Nancite Azul, Teatro Cha, Club del Clown, Teatro de Títeres Guachipilín, Escuela Nacional de Teatro and the theater from Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería (UNI). On the other hand, the international groups are Teatro Inestable de Experimentación (El Salvador), Teatro de Títeres Armadillo (Guatemala) and Teatro Sotavento (Costa Rica).

Cuellar also informed that this year´s festival will take place in three establishments of the city of Managua. The majority of the performances, which will cost C$50, will be held at Rubén Darío National Theater, from Monday to Friday at 9:30 am, and Saturdays and Sundays at 4:00 pm. FENTIJ 2009 will start tomorrow, at 4:00 pm, with the theater play "Aventuras de tío conejo" by Grupo Pioneros de Fénix.

The German Library "Bertold Bretch” will be another establishment of this festival, with free presentations on Wednesday 21, Saturday 24 and Sunday 25. Two parallel activities will take place at this establishment. The first one is the Central American Encounter of Theater Groups for Children and Youth, which will include a conference named "The situation of theater in Central America, and the second one will be the foundation of the Central American Network of Theater Groups for Children and Youth (RECATIJ).

Furthermore, the National University of Engineering (UNI) will also have a workshop on techniques and definition of performance, which will be in charge of Teatro Sotavento, from Costa Rica, on Monday 19 and Tuesday 20. This theater group will also perform for free with the play "El día de las mariposas", on Wednesday 21, at 4:00 pm, at the same university. For further information about this presentations go to our Events Calendar.