The 16th GavranFest Officially Opened in Prague

On October 16, 2025, the 16th GavranFest was solemnly opened in Prague – an international theatre festival dedicated to the writer and playwright Miro Gavran, the most translated and most performed contemporary Croatian author.

GavranFest brings together ensembles and artists from various parts of Europe who perform Gavran’s plays and comedies in their own languages. The audience thus witnesses the relevance and vitality of Gavran’s work, which transcends cultural and linguistic boundaries.

The festival opened with a performance of Gavran’s comedy All About Women, produced by Studio DVA Theatre from Prague. The opening ceremony was hosted by Dominika Kubišová. The audience was greeted by the author Miro Gavran and the festival’s organiser and selector František Karoch, who officially opened this year’s GavranFest.

On that occasion, Miro Gavran expressed his sincere gratitude for the excellent organisation of the festival and the opportunity for theatre artists from Croatia, the Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and Ukraine to meet in the spirit of artistic dialogue and cooperation. After the performance, a reception was held for guests from the cultural, political and social spheres.

Today, October 17, a round table on the topic “The International Reception of Miro Gavran” was held at Lastavica. The participants included Jaroslav Otčenášek from Charles University in Prague; Tihomir Glowatzky, a university professor from Bamberg and Gavran’s translator into German; František Karoch, selector and organiser of the 16th GavranFest; Mladena Gavran, actress and director from Teatar GAVRAN; Anto Bilić, actor, director and general manager of the Croatian Theatre Travnik and Miro Gavran himself. The event was hosted and moderated by Dominika Kubišová.

As part of the festival programme, the audience will be able to enjoy a series of interesting performances:

• October 17, 2025 – Forget Hollywood, performed by the Croatian Theatre Travnik from Travnik (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• October 18, 2025 – Beer, performed by the Let’s Laugh Theatre from Kranj (Slovenia)
• October 19, 2025 – My Wife’s Husband, performed by the Maria Zankovetska National Academic Ukrainian Drama Theatre from Lviv (Ukraine)

The festival will close on October 20, 2025, with the performance The Agency for Happiness by Teatar GAVRAN from Zagreb (Croatia).

The organiser and selector of the 16th GavranFest is František Karoch, president of the Czech-Croatian Club Nota Bene in Prague. All performances will be presented with Czech subtitles to make the festival programme accessible to a wider audience.

For more information about the programme, guest performances and festival news, please visit the website of the Czech-Croatian Club Nota Bene in Prague:
🔗 https://www.ceskochorvatskyklub.cz/