The children's theater company La Colmenita, directed by its founder Carlos Alberto Cremata, arrived in Türkiye to participate in the International Children's Theater Festival "Little Ladies, Little Gentlemen", invited by the Türkiye State Grand Theater. The company has performed in Istanbul and Ankara, which are part of the strengthening of bilateral relations in the field of culture between Cuba and Türkiye.
This Theater Festival aims to contribute to the celebration of the National Independence Day and Children's Festival, as well as to provide and introduce the global extension of Turkish theater through the children of the world and serve the intercultural development by following the events abroad. With this aim the General Directorate of Türkiye State Grand Theater has been organizing a Children's Festival in Ankara, between April 25-30 every year, since 2005. The Festival takes its name and concept from the words of the founder of the Modern Turkish Republic -Atatürk- addressed to children.
The Festival, which will celebrate its fourteenth edition over the next few days, has welcomed many countries, including Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Belgium, Italy, Russia, Germany, Israel, Romania, Serbia, France, Switzerland, Spain, Luxembourg, Holland, Slovenia, England, Cuba, Ukraine, Kosovo, Poland, Canada, China, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Montenegro, Lithuania and Croatia.
The Festival will feature activities such as puppet theater, shadow theater, black theater, dance theater, opera, ballet and street theater for children, using a wide range of techniques, as well as seminars and lectures.
In Ankara, the famous Turkish actor Tamer Karağli, General Director of the Grand Theater of Türkiye, was in charge of the opening speech of the Theater Festival at the "Akun Sahnesi" theater hall. At the end of his speech La Colmenita staged its play: "Cinderella according to the Beatles", which was attended by Dr. Alejandro F. Diaz Palacios, Ambassador of Cuba in Turkiye, officials of the Embassy and members of the Association of Friendship with Cuba-Turkiye "Jose Marti". The audience that filled the theater was made up of Turkish children.
Afterwards, a working meeting was held at the residence of the Cuban Ambassador to Türkiye, in which the main managers of the Türkiye State Grand Theater participated: Tamer Karadağli, actor and General Director; Emre Başer, actor and Deputy General Director; Sükun Isitan, actress and Deputy General Director; Ali Ceylan, Chief of Staff to the General Director; Didem Erkek, International Relations and Festivals Coordinator; and Hakan Dündar, Technical Art Director, as well as the founder and Director of La Colmenita Carlos Alberto Cremata and the Cuban Ambassador, Alejandro F. Diaz Palacios, where they discussed the potential for bilateral collaboration in the field of culture, in particular the establishment of a cooperation program between the Cuban children's theater company and the Türkiye State Grand Theater.
The children's theater company will have a wide participation in this Festival, and its program includes the presentations of its plays: "Cinderella according to the Beatles" and "La Cucarachita Martina".
