The International Small Scene Festival in Rijeka and Opatija brings six productions from four countries

The International Small Scene Festival in Rijeka and Opatija brings six productions from four European countries

The thirty-first edition of the International Small Scene Festival will be held from 4 to 9 May 2026, with festival performances beginning at 19:30. The programme will be performed at two locations: at the Croatian Cultural Centre in Sušak in Rijeka, including the atrium of the HKD, and at the Gervais Centre in Opatija. It is one of the longer-running theatre festivals in Croatia, which since its founding has outgrown the local cultural framework and maintained a recognisable profile as an international showcase focused on strong authorial signatures, more chamber-like stage formats and themes that directly concern contemporary society.

This year’s edition brings six productions in the festival competition, and the programme brings together productions from Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and Austria. According to the officially published programme, the festival week opens with the production “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by the Yugoslav Drama Theatre from Belgrade, and ends with the performance “How I Learned to Drive” by Belgrade’s Heartefact Fund. Between those two titles, audiences can expect productions by Zagreb’s Arterarij, the Slovene Youth Theatre from Ljubljana, the Istrian National Theatre City Theatre Pula, and Austria’s Aktionstheater from Bregenz, Dornbirn and Vienna.

Due to great audience interest, part of the programme has already sold out. According to the currently available information from the ticket sales system, the productions “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, “Matija”, “Incubator” and “How I Learned to Drive” are sold out, while tickets for certain performances are still available at a price of 20 euros. Visitors planning to come to Rijeka or Opatija can also check accommodation offers near the festival locations, especially because the programme takes place over several consecutive evenings and at two connected destinations.

A festival without a single theme, but with a clear image of contemporary society

The programme of the 31st International Small Scene Festival was presented in March in Rijeka, and on that occasion festival selector Jasen Boko pointed out that this year’s edition does not rest on one pre-set theme. Instead, the selection of productions has been shaped as a response to the complexity of a time in which personal, social and political crises are refracted through the individual. Such an approach gives the festival a broader dramaturgical framework: the productions are not connected by a simple common label, but are viewed as different stage reactions to a world that is increasingly difficult to perceive as a whole.

In that context, the metaphor of “mirror shards” was also used, describing how contemporary human beings and society are reflected through fragments, cracks and contradictions. The programme therefore covers themes of obsession with youth and beauty, loss and professional burnout, war and silence about violence, emotional breakdown, the acceleration of digital and social everyday life, and sexual violence and abuse of minors. Although the themes are demanding, the festival does not present them as a series of closed messages, but as a space in which theatre asks questions and opens conversation after the performance.

Such a concept is a continuation of the festival tradition that understands small scenes not only as a smaller performance space, but as an aesthetic and production framework in which acting intensity, directorial procedure and the audience’s relationship to the performance are often seen more clearly. Precisely for this reason, the International Small Scene Festival has for years attracted audiences who expect a concentrated theatrical experience, as well as the professional public interested in regional and European stage trends. For visitors attending several performances during the week, it is useful to plan their arrival in time and accommodation for a festival stay in Rijeka and Opatija.

The programme begins with Wilde and a story about obsession with beauty

The festival opens on Monday, 4 May, at 19:30 at the Croatian Cultural Centre in Sušak with the production “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, based on the novel by Oscar Wilde. The production is performed by the Yugoslav Drama Theatre from Belgrade, and directed by Nataša Radulović. Wilde’s story about beauty, narcissism, moral corruption and fear of ageing is one of those literary templates that easily connects with the contemporary society of images, self-presentation and the constant pressure of a perfect appearance. In the festival context, this production opens the question of the price an individual pays when the external image becomes more important than inner life.

On the second day, Tuesday, 5 May, the atrium of the Croatian Cultural Centre in Sušak will host the production “Matija” by Drago Hedl, directed by Patrik Lazić and produced by Zagreb’s Arterarij. The theme of the production is directed toward the loss of a son, but also toward the burnout syndrome of a successful person trapped in imposed standards of success. The festival selector described this title as a story that connects personal tragedy with broader social patterns, especially with the pressure of achievement and the mythology of success that often leaves the individual without room for weakness, vulnerability and loss.

On Wednesday, 6 May, the Slovene Youth Theatre Ljubljana will appear on the HKD stage in Sušak with the production “Incubator”, directed by Oliver Frljić. According to the programme announcement, the production deals with the war in Gaza and the broader question of humanity in circumstances of violence, silence and political powerlessness. The inclusion of this title in the festival programme confirms that the International Small Scene Festival does not avoid sensitive contemporary themes, but includes them in the space of public performance, where artistic procedure and social commentary become part of the same conversation.

Intimacy, speed and violence as the final chords of the festival week

On Thursday, 7 May, the Istrian National Theatre City Theatre Pula will perform “The Human Voice” by Jean Cocteau, directed by Jug Đorđević. Cocteau’s text, which in various performance traditions is often read as a drama of emotional exposure and breakdown, stands in the festival programme opposite politically and socially more explicit titles. In this way the programme gains an important intimate counterpoint: after questions of public violence, war and social pressure, “The Human Voice” directs the gaze toward the private space of separation, loneliness and psychological exposure.

The only performance outside Rijeka will take place on Friday, 8 May, at 19:30 at the Gervais Centre in Opatija. Austria’s Aktionstheater from Bregenz, Dornbirn and Vienna will perform “Speed kills Content”, a production directed by Martin Gruber. The title directly points to one of the dominant diagnoses of contemporary life: the acceleration of communication, information and social expectations, in which speed often suppresses content, meaning and the possibility of deeper understanding. For audiences coming to the Opatija performance, it is especially important to check the organisation of travel between the festival locations and to secure accommodation near Rijeka or Opatija in time.

The festival ends on Saturday, 9 May, in the atrium of the Croatian Cultural Centre in Sušak with the production “How I Learned to Drive”, based on the drama by Paula Vogel, directed by Tara Manić and produced by the Heartefact Fund from Belgrade. It is a text that deals with sexual violence and abuse of minors, themes that require particular responsibility in stage treatment and public conversation. At the festival finale, this title further emphasises the selection’s commitment to theatre that does not stop at aesthetic impression, but enters painful and often suppressed social spaces.

Juries, talks after performances and audience awards

The festival jury of the 31st International Small Scene Festival consists of dramaturge Alja Predan, dramatic actress Jelena Miholjević and theatre director Lary Zappia. Alongside them, there is also the jury of the media sponsor Novi list for the Mediterranean Award, consisting of Kim Cuculić, Ivana Kocijan and Ervin Pavleković. Such a judging structure maintains two levels of festival evaluation: professional, which observes performances through theatrical criteria, and media-oriented, which additionally highlights the space of public reception and regional cultural visibility.

One of the important elements of the festival will be talks about the productions. According to the organisers’ announcement, talks will be held after performances in the atrium of the Croatian Cultural Centre in Sušak, while the talk after the production “Speed kills Content” will be held in the foyer of the Gervais Centre in Opatija. The host and moderator of the talks will be theatre critic Igor Ružić. Such a format gives the audience the opportunity, after the performance, to hear the artists, authors and participants in the process, but also to view the performance beyond the immediate impression that remains after the lights go down in the auditorium.

A particularly interesting fact is that each ticket is also a ballot. Audience ratings will be published on the same evening after the performance, which gives the festival programme additional dynamics and includes viewers in the evaluation process. At a time when cultural events are increasingly measured only by the number of tickets sold, such a model preserves the idea of the audience as an active participant, and not merely a consumer of the programme. The great interest in tickets shows that this connection between the festival and the audience still has strong continuity.

Tickets, locations and organisation of the festival week

Ticket sales for the 31st International Small Scene Festival began in March, first at the box office of the Croatian Cultural Centre in Sušak for long-time visitors and festival participants, and then online through the Mojekarte.hr system. During the festival, from 4 to 9 May, tickets can, according to the announcement, also be purchased on site one hour before the start of each individual performance, depending on availability. The ticket price is 20 euros, which, according to the City of Rijeka’s announcement, is the same price as in the previous three years.

The programme is distributed between the Croatian Cultural Centre in Sušak, the HKD atrium and the Gervais Centre in Opatija. The HKD in Sušak is located at Strossmayerova 1 in Rijeka, and it is a venue strongly connected with the festival’s identity. The Opatija Gervais Centre enters the programme as the second festival location, thereby spatially extending the edition to the neighbouring city as well. Such an arrangement may be attractive to audiences who follow the festival as a multi-day cultural stay, but it also requires more careful organisation of arrivals, especially for the performance in Opatija.

Given that certain productions are already sold out, ticket availability needs to be checked immediately before purchase. According to published data from the sales system, the last available tickets currently relate to part of the programme, while the most sought-after titles are already closed for regular sale. This confirms the festival’s reputation as an event with a stable and loyal audience, but also shows that interest goes beyond the usual theatre season. For arrival from outside the venues, it is useful to plan transport in advance and accommodation for visitors of the International Small Scene Festival.

A festival with continuity since 1994

The International Small Scene Festival was founded in Rijeka in 1994 as the Croatian Small Scene Festival, under the leadership of its founder, actor Nenad Šegvić, and the first selector, theatre critic Dalibor Foretić. Since 1999, when theatre critic and dramaturge Jasen Boko became selector, the festival has developed as an international event. This continuity is important for understanding its current position: it is a festival that has survived changes in cultural policies, theatrical aesthetics and production conditions, while maintaining a clear orientation toward quality productions with a strong thematic core.

The organiser of the festival is the Artistic Organisation HKD Theatre International Small Scene Festival, with the support of the City of Rijeka. The programme is also supported by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Jadran hoteli Rijeka as the official hotel partner, and sponsors Erste Bank and Best in Parking. At the programme presentation, the long-standing support of the City of Rijeka, which stretches back to the festival’s founding, was also highlighted. Official statements emphasised that the festival does not function merely as a series of productions, but also as an educational and cultural space that connects audiences, artists, critics and younger theatre generations.

It is precisely this combination of international selection, talks after performances, a professional jury and an active audience that explains why the International Small Scene Festival, in its 31st edition as well, retains a recognisable place on the theatrical map. This year’s programme, distributed between Rijeka and Opatija, does not offer a simple theme or an easy festival image, but rather a series of productions dealing with fear, loss, violence, acceleration, corporeality, self-image and social responsibility. In that sense, the festival remains faithful to the idea that a small scene can open large questions, and audience interest shows that there is still a strong need for such a theatrical space.

Sources:
- International Small Scene Festival Rijeka – official programme of the 31st edition, list of productions, locations, selector, artistic director and ticket sales information (link)
- City of Rijeka – official announcement on the presentation of the programme, festival concept, jury, talks after performances, ticket prices and festival history (link)
- Mojekarte.hr – current overview of ticket availability, dates, locations and prices for festival productions (link)
- HRT Radio Rijeka / Hina – report from the programme presentation and thematic descriptions of the productions according to statements by selector Jasen Boko (link)
- MojaRijeka – report on great audience interest and sold-out productions before the start of the festival (link)