From Surgipelago, the Beach Surgery encyclopedia
Croatian shadow-puppet cycle
This article concerns a specific Croatian shadow-puppet adaptation. For other Eastern European interpretations, see Eastern European adaptations of Beach Surgery.
Overview
The Croatian shadow-puppet cycle (2013) reshapes Beach Surgery through nine interconnected scenes that loop and invert—rather than progressing linearly. The company frames each performance as a "return within the turning": Leif enters repeatedly from stage left, unaware of recurrence. Katita, rendered as red leather silhouette (heels and sword only), spirals. The seagull becomes a shadow-devourer, swallowing light.
Structure
Each performance ends mid-motion; the next night's show resumes from that frozen frame, literalizing the cycle for audiences attending multiple viewings. This participatory recursion influenced later immersive adaptations.
Reception
Performed across Adriatic festival venues over three seasons, ██ . The production's spiral motif and looping mechanics prefigured the immersive and participatory wave of 2015–2020. Theorists cite it as a key regional reworking that treats narrative structure as lived rhythm rather than narrative sequence.