New posters of Kyiv Academic Puppet Theatre feature the tale Kotyhoroshko by Hryhorii Usach, and draws allusions to the alarming events in the east of the country. The little audience is captivated in the performance and empathizes its events from the first ever appearance of the fairy-tale characters. The silence, unusual for a children’s theater permeates the room as kids are watching a story that reminds them the chronicles from the frontline.
The performers are led by staging director Yurii Sikalo, director Dmytro Drapikovsky, artist Natalia Yahupova, and composer Mykola Klandionok. They determined the play’s main theme as the responsibility for the fate of the country in times of an enemy attack, and put the fairy tale on stage not didactically, but emotionally.
The main character is a boy Kotyhoroshko (actors Yurii Khetchykov, Roman Molodii), who is nurtured from a green pod by Mother Earth (actors Larysa Kulikova, Olha Tsehlynska, Liudmyla Yasynovska) and accepts responsibility for the fate of the country, which is being subjugated by the evil and treacherous Serpent-Shapeshifter (performed by Yevhen Ohorodnii and Yurii Farafonov). With the help of the Smiths and his colleagues named Vernyhora and Vernydub (actors Viacheslav Huk, Volodymyr Malynsky, Vadym Dotsenko, and Yurii Chebotariov), armed with a mace forged by them, he engages in a deadly duel with the Serpent and kills him, freeing his sister Olenka (actors Anzhelika Isaienkova and Olha Razuvanova) from the Serpent’s clutches.
The play is written in poetic form and the actors keep the style accordingly, working in a well organized ensemble, creating momentous characteristic images of an amazing high plasticity, that clearly convey the meaning behind them. Even the smaller roles, in particular the Kite (artists Yurii Chebotariov and Volodymyr Malynsky) and the Spider (Viktoria Tebenieva and Lidia Shevchenko) have their characters, and demonstrate the puppet’s personality.
The Kotyhoroshko play by Hryhorii Usach is a heroic fresco that through all its means of expression conveys the topic of patriotism. “The performers have shown our kids the true lesson of devotion to the Motherland, and have done so delicately, emotionally and convincingly” – this was the evaluation of the performance by the parents and educators of the young viewers who have already watched the premiere.
The following performances are scheduled for October 10 and 31.
