PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL 2025
Festival of Ecology, Stage & Transformation – Southern Sweden: THE F.E.S.T!
During the summer of 2025 we are happy to invite you to the vibrant, international Festival of Stage Art in the south of Sweden, Skillinge Theatre.
The Stage Art Festival is divided into 4 different segments:
Three amazing international guest performances:
-
- THE VOLOZ COMPANY (United Kingdom) www.volozcollective.com
- PLEXUS POLAIRE (France & Norway) www.plexuspolaire.com
- THÉÂTRE DES BOUFFES DU NORD (Peter Brook, France) www.bouffesdunord.com
…and THE F.E.S.T:
-
- A four-day STAGE ART F.E.S.T – a meeting point for professionals and semi-professionals from the arena of Physical Stage Art.
- Tuesday 29 July 15.00 – Friday 1 Aug 15.00
- At SKILLINGE THEATRE o SKILLINGE VILLAGE o THE REGION OF SCANIA (SKÅNE) o SWEDEN
- THE FOCUS OF THE FESTIVAL IS PHYSICAL THEATRE: stage art, puppet, masque, choreography, performances, circus and object based stage art.
- FOUR DAYS OF INSPIRATION: masterclasses, performances, seminars, dance, singing, walking meditation, sound bath performance and breathwork through physical theater, object theater, circus, puppets, mask and dance.
- TOGETHERNESS IS THE KEY: together with our extended network we grow from communication, playfulness, and outreach. In order to instigate hope, strength, knowledge and inspiration – we all need to reach, hear and see each other.
INTERNATIONAL GUEST PERFORMANCES
THE MAN WHO THOUGHT HE KNEW TOO MUCH
VOLOZ COLLECTIVE
Thursday 10, Friday 12 & Saturday 13 Juli, at 19.30.
Voloz Collective is a multi-award-winning international physical theatre company that reinvents and recharges physical comedy by exploiting the capacities of the human body and blurring the lines between the theatrical and cinematic.

TRUST ME FOR A WHILE
Plexus POLAIRE
Saturday 26, Sunday 27 of Juli, at 19.30.
Trust me for a while is a horror show using dark humor in which three puppeteers delve into the story of an evil ventriloquist puppet with a dubious and disturbing past. How far will we go if a crime goes unpunished?
Plexus Polaire is a unique and award winning French-Norwegian theatre company who, through the use of life-sized puppets, acting, music, light and video, develop visual worlds that bring our most buried feelings to life. They reflect the inner storms of the human heart and explore the unexplained mysteries of life.

The Voloz collective will host a MASTER CLASS for professionals. The 11th of july 13.00 – 16.00 on the big stage of Skillinge Theatre. Registration details to come.
Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord
THE TEMPEST
by Shakespeare, adaptation Peter Brook
Saturday 9, Sunday 10 of August, at 19.30
“The Tempest” by Shakespeare in the adaptation created by the iconic, world-renowned British director Peter Brook is one of the most famous adaptations worldwide of this classic tale. The Tempest is an enigma, a fable where nothing can be taken literally, because, if we stay on the surface of the play, its inner quality escapes us. For the actors, as well as for the audience, it is a play that reveals itself by playing it. It’s like Music.
Peter Brook was born in London in 1925. Throughout his career, he distinguished himself in various genres: theatre, opera, cinema and writing. He directed his first play there in 1943. He then went on to direct over 70 productions in London, Paris and New York.

Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord will also host a MASTER CLASS for professionals. We will open for registration to this master class after the 24th of April.
Professional stage art artists, and pedagogues from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Spain, France, USA, Argentina, Venezuela and more are gathering at SKILLINGE THEATRE in the picturesque fishing village of Skillinge in the region of Scania (Skåne) in Southern Sweden.
- STAGE ART AND SOCIETY
- How can we increase our impact on the societal challenges?
- Is there a role for stage art in today’s societal crisis?
- What are engaging formats for political stage art today?
STAGE ART AND PEOPLE
- How do we engage and inspire our audiences to act and create change?
- Methodologies for dialogue and audience participation.
STAGE ART AND US AS ARTISTS
- How to collaborate and support each other as artists?
- How can we collaborate around resources, people and finances?
- How to eco-educate future generations of artists?
Submission of workshops, master classes or performances
can be done until the 3rd of May KLICK HERE.
The final program will be presented on this web site the 10th of May.
THE F.E.S.T: HOW
As an expert you automatically get a free Festival Pass.
For other attendees the Festival Pass costs 1200 SEK.
The festival pass gives:
– Access to the Festival – all 4 days
– Free access: to all seminars, workshops and open stage events (15 min examples of performances)
– Free food: breakfast, lunch, dinner (veg) during the 29th of July – 1st of Aug.
For master classes or full performances you buy special tickets where the surplus goes to the experts/artists.
Where to sleep:
All experts / speakers will be hosted in one of the three apartments of the theatre or they will be hosted at private houses of local friends of the theatre.
If you prefer to stay at a hotel just inform us and we will help you connect to suitable options no great distance from the theatre.
Questions:
Mail us at info@skillingeteater.se or contact us:
Karin Johansson-Mex +46 761-640864
Royne Levin +46 721-979411
Do not forget
- Clothes for physical Workshops
- Swimming gear & towel
- Something warm and cozy to wear in the evenings.
This festival is being jointly organized by the European Sw/ Fr theatre company Theater In-Balance curated by Mariana Araoz and by Skillinge Theater, curated by Karin Johansson-Mex. It is part of a series of theatre festivals initiated at Skillinge by Mariana Araoz and Barbara Wilczek Ekholm, in collaboration with Stefan Ridell & Harald Leander, on the theme of Performing Art, Peace and Gender.
The festival takes place in the adorable fishing village of Skillinge where you will find Skillinge Teater, a beautiful culture center situated 200 m from the sea.
Adress: Möllevångsgatan 9, 276 60 Skillinge.
Fly to Copenhagen airport.
Take the train from Copenhagen airport or Malmö to Simrishamn station and then the BUS 577 to Skillinge.
Get of the bus at the station: Byggmästaregatan. Then 3 minutes walk to Skillinge Theater.
THE RESTAURANT
During the festival the restaurant of Skillinge Theatre will be open with coffee, snacks, food and wine.
THE GIN BAR
The Gin Bar of Skillinge Theatre opens every evening at 17.00.
CURATORS OF THE FESTIVAL:
Mariana Araoz
Director, pedagogue and designer of the In Balance Method © Professor of Mask and puppets in Malmö Theater school of the University of Lund
Holds a BA in Biology from Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, a Master in Ecology and environmental management from the University of Rennes I and a BA in Theater Studies from Sorbonne-Nouvelle University, Paris. She has directed more than forty mask performances in France, Sweden and in the United States. Nominated in 2014 for the Thalia Prize in Sweden and award-winner of the Festival Off d’Avignon Support Fund in 2017.