The theater fan practices early: Salzburg BimBam Festival in the starting blocks
From the end of February, after a four-year break, the Salzburg Theater Festival for small children “BimBam” will be taking place again.
SALZBURG: “The children who have just learned to walk come to us,” says the artistic co-director of the Toihaus Theater Katharina Schrott about the visitors of the “BimBam Festival”. From February 25 to March 19, 2023, children aged six months to six years will once again have the opportunity to discover their passion for theater at the festival.
New generation of children
Due to the pandemic, the international “BimBam Festival” last took place in Salzburg four years ago. Accordingly, it is “special” that the festival can take place again this year. “Four years is almost a generation of children who haven’t experienced a ‘BimBam’,” says Schrott, the curator of the festival.
This year, the motto “Dance of Things” runs like a red thread through the festival program. In concrete terms, this means that different materials or objects are set in motion and stories are told. “This is exactly where contemporary theater for the youngest and art in general comes in: seeing things and situations differently, taking them out of their context and adding new ways of looking at them,” says Schrott.
Short pieces in an “intimate atmosphere”
The pieces last 30 to 40 minutes. There is an “intimate atmosphere” with 40 to 50 viewers. Children are encouraged to take part in some of the plays. Children can be a critical audience, and comments during performances are not uncommon. “In principle, we are successful if the children remain attentive,” says Schrott happily.
“We learn attitude through art and culture”
– Katharina Schrott, curator
All the performers at the “BimBam Festival” have their own focus, be it object theatre, dance or music. In this way you can “experience very special and different approaches to theatre”. The children can choose from a total of twelve productions. Around 60 events are performed over a period of three weeks.
Lots of different venues
Performances take place not only in the Salzburg Toihaus, but also at other venues in the city, in Lungau, Pongau, in Upper Austria and Bavaria. The Museum der Moderne Salzburg Mönchsberg, the Mirabell campus and the “ARGEkultur” are new venues in the city.
Excerpts from “Ton in Ton”, which WILL also be performed at the BimBam Festival.
The size of the artist groups ranges from two people to the National Theater, artists from seven different European countries come to Salzburg. The Toihaus Theater’s own productions such as “Tempo Tempi” or Flatterland are also given space. An international highlight for Schrott: the performance “La serpillère de Monsieur Mutt” by the French Marc Lacourt. Everyday utensils come to life here and become works of art themselves.
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