On April 16, Vitebsk /Olga Bogacheva - BELTA/. The "School Theatre" festival opens today in Vitebsk, Svetlana Dashkevich, head of the literary department of the Yakub Kolas National Academic Drama Theatre, told a BELTA correspondent. This year, the stage readings by senior pupils (grades 9-11) will be held on the stage of the Kolas Theatre for the 16th time and will be dedicated to the 130th anniversary of the birth of the People's Writers of Belarus Yanka Kupala and Yakub Kolas. 10 groups of pupils representing educational institutions of the regional centre will compete for victory in the festival. The drama group of six- and seven-graders from Secondary School No. 33 will perform "Kvietki pad liŭniem" by Igor Sidoruk outside the competition programme. Performances based on the works of Yanka Kupala, Yakub Kolas, Aleksei Dudarev, Vladimir Korotkevich, Fyodor Polochanyn, Olga Gapeeva and other famous Belarusian authors, performed by young amateur artists, will be shown at the theatre for two days. Following the review of all competitive works, the jury will name the groups that have achieved the highest professionalism in acting and scenography. They will be awarded honorary diplomas and prizes. The best participants of the competition, recognised for the best male and female lead roles, as well as for the best male and female supporting roles, will receive a recommendation from the jury for admission to the acting faculty of the Belarusian State Academy of Arts. The names of the winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on April 17 at 15:00. In addition, on the last day of the festival at 12:00, the chairman of the jury, Honoured Artist of Belarus, Professor, Dean of the Theatre Faculty of the Belarusian State Academy of Arts Vladimir Mishchanchuk, will hold a review with consultations for young people wishing to make acting their future profession on the Kolas stage.-0-

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