The Čavle-Omišalj Theatre Festival brings six plays to Kaštel Grobnik and Prikešte Square
The twenty-fifth edition of the Čavle-Omišalj Theatre Festival will be held from 19 to 26 June 2026, with a programme of six evening performances that will be staged alternately at the Castle of the Town of Grobnik and on Prikešte Square in Omišalj. According to the announcement by the Tourist Board of the Municipality of Čavle, all performances begin at 9 p.m., and admission is free, with no seat reservation system. The organizers therefore recommend that visitors arrive earlier, especially for performances expected to attract greater audience interest. In case of bad weather, the Grobnik performances move to Čavle Primary School, and the Omišalj performances to the Community Centre in Omišalj. For visitors who wish to combine the programme with a longer stay in Kvarner, accommodation offers near Grobnik and Omišalj may also be useful.
The festival is held as a joint cultural event of the Municipality of Čavle and the Municipality of Omišalj. In the festival announcement, the mayor of the Municipality of Čavle, Ivana Cvitan Polić, emphasized that the special feature of the event lies precisely in the cooperation between two local self-government units, former Frankopan castles and communities rich in cultural tradition and folk creativity. According to the available programme, the selector is Denis Redić, and the festival is financed by the Municipalities of Čavle and Omišalj with the support of the tourist boards. The mayor of the Municipality of Omišalj, Mirela Ahmetović, particularly stressed that admission is not charged even in the 25th year of the event, which gives the festival a recognizable place among summer theatre events. This preserves a model in which the audience can follow professional theatre productions without buying tickets, which is also important for the wider accessibility of cultural content.
Theatre between heritage, the summer stage and contemporary themes
The festival’s two main stages also have a strong spatial identity. The Castle of the Town of Grobnik, according to the Tourist Board of the Municipality of Čavle, is a medieval Frankopan castle built in a strategically important position, and today it is a space for a gallery, museum and cultural events. The Omišalj location, Prikešte Square, is situated in the historic core of a place that preserves traces of former Frankopan and Glagolitic heritage; according to the tourist interpretation of Omišalj, in the area of the former castle a Glagolitic inscription about the construction of a tower from 1476 has been preserved. Because of such surroundings, the festival is not only a series of guest performances, but also an example of using historic spaces as active cultural stages. The programme of the 25th edition combines several types of theatrical experiences. Some of the plays rely on fast comedy, generational conflicts and everyday misunderstandings, while another part opens up heavier themes such as refuge, family relationships, identity and social masks. The schedule includes productions from different theatrical environments, including Moruzgva Theatre, NEXTSTAGE Theatre, FIJI Group, KNAP Theatre and Exit Theatre. The programme is conceived so that the performances alternate between Grobnik and Omišalj, and during the festival week there are no performances every day; instead, the dates are distributed across six evenings.
The festival also has a judging character. The audience will choose the best play, while the jury composed of Višnja Višnjić Karković, Bogdana Čiča and Robert Zaharija will decide on the best leading male role, the best leading female role, the best directorial achievement and the best play overall. Such a model combines the audience’s judgement and professional assessment, which is often important for festival programmes that want to preserve the immediacy of the auditorium, but also a clearer evaluation of acting and directorial achievements. Ahead of the main programme, the organizers also prepared two children’s plays, with the aim of bringing theatre closer to the youngest audience: “The Great Word Factory” was held on 11 June at the Community Centre in Omišalj, and “The Star and the Darkness” on 12 June at Čavle Primary School.
Opening in Grobnik: “Military Service” as a comedy about a topic that has returned to the public sphere
The festival opens on Friday, 19 June, at 9 p.m. at the Castle of the Town of Grobnik with the play “Military Service”, performed by Miro Čabraja and Domagoj Nižić. The text is by Dorotea Šušak, the direction by Miro Čabraja and Dorotea Šušak, and the play lasts 75 minutes and is recommended for audiences older than 16. According to the announcement by the Tourist Board of the Municipality of Čavle, it is a comedy that speaks in a different way about the topic of reintroducing military service, that is, basic military training. The play contrasts young people accustomed to the digital world, social networks and algorithms with sergeants who try to maintain order, discipline and hierarchy. It is precisely this clash of two mentalities that gives the comedy a topical framework, because the question of military obligation has returned to public debates in recent years.
The topicality of the theme is also confirmed by data from the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Croatia. The Ministry of Defence announced that in 2026 men, military conscripts born in 2007, are being called up for basic military training, while older conscripts aged 19 to 30 may exceptionally be sent according to legal criteria, and women may apply voluntarily. The Ministry previously stated that on 24 October 2025 the Croatian Parliament voted for amendments to laws introducing basic military training. In that context, “Military Service” does not function only as a genre comedy, but also as a stage commentary on a socially visible topic. Thus, already at the opening, the festival introduces a title that can communicate with different generations of the audience, from those who remember former military service to younger viewers for whom the topic is new and present daily in the media.
Omišalj opens the question of artificial intelligence: “Where Is This AI World Going?”
On Saturday, 20 June, the programme moves to Prikešte Square in Omišalj, where the play “Where Is This AI World Going?” by Moruzgva Theatre will be performed at 9 p.m. The text is by Vid Lež, the direction and adaptation by Dražen Krešić, and the performers are Domagoj Ivanković and Lovre Kondža. The play lasts 90 minutes and, according to available announcements, through humour and recognizable everyday situations opens the question of life with artificial intelligence. At its centre are characters who face technology as a promise of an easier life, but also as a force that can change habits, creativity and relationships. Instead of presenting artificial intelligence as a distant future, the play places it in the present, in which digital tools increasingly enter decisions, work and personal choices.
In its announcement, Moruzgva Theatre builds the play around the question of whether artificial intelligence is an aid that can push a person towards a better tomorrow or a technology that can seduce, deceive and make him dependent on its own assistance. In the festival context, this is an interesting counterpoint to “Military Service”: the first play problematizes discipline, the command system and a generation raised with digital habits, while the second directly thematizes technological progress and human bewilderment. Both comedies, although different, speak about the pressures of contemporary life. Thus, in the first two days, the programme establishes a clear line towards current themes, but without abandoning a communicative theatrical language accessible to the audience.
“A Great Guy” and “If I Were a Bird”: family ties, refuge and new beginnings
The third festival evening is announced for Tuesday, 23 June, when the play “A Great Guy” by NEXTSTAGE Theatre will be performed at the Castle of the Town of Grobnik. The text was written by Petra Cicvarić, the direction is by Tihana Strmečki, and the performers are Matko Knešaurek and Antun Brzak. The play lasts 75 minutes and rests on the meeting of two men from completely different worlds who are connected by a blood tie. According to the announcement, the question of what it means in your forties to discover that you have a brother on the other side of the world launches a comedy of conflict, emotions and surprises. Such a premise allows for character play, but also a discussion about family as a relationship that is not always the result of growing up together, but sometimes comes unexpectedly, with a great delay and without preparation.
The next day, on Wednesday, 24 June, Omišalj will host the play “If I Were a Bird” produced by FIJI Group from Zagreb. The author is Nikolina Bogdanović, the director is Arija Rizvić, and the performers are Daria Lorenci Flatz and Tarik Filipović. The performance lasts 70 minutes and speaks about a young married couple who, with their daughter, flee occupied Sarajevo at the end of the 1990s and arrive in Vienna with two bags, where they must reinvent their life. According to the announcement by the Tourist Board of the Municipality of Omišalj, the play combines moments of laughter and sadness, and presents the theme of refuge through an intimate family perspective. In the festival programme, this play brings a different tone: it relies less on an external comic plot, and more on the experience of displacement, adaptation and the search for stability after the rupture of war.
Mothers, daughters and Exit’s cult title for the finale
On Thursday, 25 June, KNAP Theatre will appear at the Castle of the Town of Grobnik with the play “Mater Noster”. The text is by Lucija Klarić, the direction by Boris Kovačević, and the performers are Tea Šimić and Katarina Arbanas De Romero. The play lasts 90 minutes and thematizes the relationship between mother and daughter, parental advice, the first job, life under the same roof and the tension between love and everyday family pressure. According to the announcement by the Tourist Board of the Municipality of Čavle, through comic transformations the actresses expose sentences and situations that are often kept silent, repeated or passed from generation to generation within the family. “Mater Noster” thus continues the festival’s comedy line, but moves it into the space of the family home, where the greatest dramas often happen in seemingly ordinary conversations.
The closing of the festival is scheduled for Friday, 26 June, on Prikešte Square in Omišalj, where Exit Theatre will perform “What Do You Mean I’m Not Here?!”. The author of the project, direction and set is Ivica Boban, the dramaturgical collaborator and assistant director is Olja Lozica, and the performers are Filip Juričić and Amar Bukvić. The play lasts 120 minutes and has for years stood out as one of Exit Theatre’s recognizable titles. According to the announcement by the Tourist Board of the Municipality of Omišalj, it is an extremely energetic, farcical, sincere, funny and bittersweet game in which the actors pass through a series of internal and imagined identities. The play examines personal and social masks, false and true values, and the boundaries between life and stage reality and fiction.
The longevity of this title is also confirmed by earlier announcements by Exit Theatre and other theatre houses, which describe the play as an authorial project whose strength is based on acting transformation, the intensity of performance and the recognizability of everyday absurdities. In the festival schedule, it has a logical place as the closing performance because it brings a proven title, a strong acting duo and a theme of identity that connects with several motifs from the previous plays. If “Military Service” and “Where Is This AI World Going?” are turned towards institutions, technology and contemporary pressures, “What Do You Mean I’m Not Here?!” closes the festival with a look towards the individual and his masks. Thus the programme closes with a play that simultaneously belongs to popular theatre and to demanding acting performance.
Schedule of the 25th Čavle-Omišalj Theatre Festival
- Friday, 19 June, 9 p.m., Castle of the Town of Grobnik: “Military Service”, text by Dorotea Šušak, direction by Miro Čabraja and Dorotea Šušak, performed by Miro Čabraja and Domagoj Nižić, duration 75 minutes, age 16+.
- Saturday, 20 June, 9 p.m., Prikešte Square in Omišalj: “Where Is This AI World Going?”, text by Vid Lež, direction and adaptation by Dražen Krešić, performed by Domagoj Ivanković and Lovre Kondža, production Moruzgva Theatre, duration 90 minutes.
- Tuesday, 23 June, 9 p.m., Castle of the Town of Grobnik: “A Great Guy”, text by Petra Cicvarić, direction by Tihana Strmečki, performed by Matko Knešaurek and Antun Brzak, production NEXTSTAGE Theatre, duration 75 minutes.
- Wednesday, 24 June, 9 p.m., Prikešte Square in Omišalj: “If I Were a Bird”, author Nikolina Bogdanović, director Arija Rizvić, production FIJI Group, performed by Daria Lorenci Flatz and Tarik Filipović, duration 70 minutes.
- Thursday, 25 June, 9 p.m., Castle of the Town of Grobnik: “Mater Noster”, text by Lucija Klarić, direction by Boris Kovačević, performed by Tea Šimić and Katarina Arbanas De Romero, production KNAP Theatre, duration 90 minutes.
- Friday, 26 June, 9 p.m., Prikešte Square in Omišalj: “What Do You Mean I’m Not Here?!”, author of the project, direction and set Ivica Boban, dramaturgical collaborator and assistant director Olja Lozica, performed by Filip Juričić and Amar Bukvić, production Exit Theatre, duration 120 minutes.
Free admission and arrival without reservations
According to the organizers’ announcements, admission is free for all performances, and there are no ticket reservations. This model means that seats are taken by arriving at the location, so earlier arrival is practically the most important recommendation for the audience. All performances begin at 9 p.m., which clearly places the festival in the summer evening rhythm of open-air stages in Kvarner. In case of bad weather, the audience does not need to follow a change of date, but only the replacement location: for the Grobnik performances it is Čavle Primary School, and for the Omišalj performances the Community Centre in Omišalj. In this way, the festival maintains programme continuity and reduces the risk of performance cancellations due to weather conditions.
The twenty-fifth edition of the Čavle-Omišalj Theatre Festival shows how local cultural cooperation can develop into a recognizable summer programme with professional theatre productions and free admission. From a comedy about military training and a play about artificial intelligence to family stories, the experience of refuge and Exit’s game of identity, the programme encompasses themes that move between laughter, social commentary and intimate life turning points. This is also the main value of the festival: it attracts the audience with familiar names, open stages and a diversity of theatrical languages. The final evening in Omišalj, one week after the opening in Grobnik, will round off an event that has connected two communities and two stages for a quarter of a century. The same rule applies to all performances: admission is free, and a seat in the auditorium is best secured by arriving on time.
Sources:
- Čavle Tourist Board, Grobnik – announcement of the Čavle-Omišalj Theatre Festival and description of programme locations (link)
- Čavle Tourist Board, Grobnik – announcement of the play “Military Service” with information on the date, location, authors and free admission (link)
- Čavle Tourist Board, Grobnik – announcement of the play “A Great Guy” with information on the date, location and creative team (link)
- Čavle Tourist Board, Grobnik – announcement of the play “Mater Noster” with information on the date, location and creative team (link)
- Tourist Board of the Municipality of Omišalj – announcement of the play “If I Were a Bird” with information on the performance on Prikešte Square (link)
- Tourist Board of the Municipality of Omišalj – announcement of the play “What Do You Mean I’m Not Here?!” with information on the performance in Omišalj (link)
- Dogadanja.com – supplementary announcement of the play “Where Is This AI World Going?” with information on the date, location and free admission (link)
- Moruzgva Theatre – description of the play “Where Is This AI World Going?” and creative information about the production (link)
- Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Croatia – basic information on basic military training in 2026 (link)
- Čavle Tourist Board, Grobnik – historical description of the Castle of the Town of Grobnik (link)
- Tourist Board of the Municipality of Omišalj – historical description of the Castle, or Kešta, in Omišalj (link)