"EUROKAZ" NEW THEATRE FESTIVAL TO TAKE PLACE JUNE 24-30

( Editorial: --> 1311 ) ZAGREB, June 21 (Hina) - The Far East's traditional theatre will be the focus of this year's Eurokaz New Theatre Festival which takes place in Zagreb between June 24 and 30. Eurokaz will feature 15 performances by theatre groups from Japan, India, France, Italy and Croatia. The greatest stage spectacle this year will be performances by the Japanese Kodo Drums and the Noh Theatre, and Indian group Khatakali. According to festival art director Gordana Vnuk, they will perform in Croatia for the first time. She emphasised that through the centuries many contemporary theatres in Europe and the United States have been borrowing music, costumes, rituals, structure, theoretical postulates and techniques from these Far East theatres. Because of its minimalism, the Noh Theatre is compared with haiku poetry. Actors use archaic language and the audience a written programme to follow the performance. The Noh Theatre originates from the 14th century and one of its characteristics is that men act all the roles. When portraying women and demons, they don minimalist masks and wigs. In their performances the Indian Khatakali dedicate special attention to rich costumes, dynamic movements and gestures. They have 900 hand gestures, 80 head movements and 36 different looks. They replace masks with heavy layers of make up. The audience will be able to attend the make up process before the performance. The Kodo drums from Japan's Sado Island will close the Eurokaz festival on June 30 as part of their world tour. Besides these Far East companies, this year's Eurokaz will also feature Compagnie des loups from France and Orchestra Stolpnik from Italy. Croatian theatre will be represented by three generations, the Pinkleci theatrical group from Cakovec and the Croatian National Theatre from Varazdin. Many Croatian performances will be premieres. Noh and Khatakali performers will also hold workshops to present their techniques closer to those interested. This year's Eurokaz will also feature a round table on new Croatian theatre. The festival is sponsored by the Zagreb office for culture and the Croatian Ministry of Culture, a Japanese and Italian foundation, and other sponsors. (hina) ha jn 211649 MET jun 98