Oh, finally! I’ve got enough time to write about recent events, and there were quite a few!

First of all, there was Puppeteers Day on March, 21st. In my opininon, the fact, that it is so close to St.Patrick’s Day, really means something! At least, not a usual day it was. Atmosphere of joy and fun prevailed thoughout the day, which was by the way my workday! Champaigne and cheers in the evening made it into a fine holiday.

Secondly, I’ve participated in a morning TV show on a local Moscow station ‘Doverie’. Theatre’s Day is coming (March, 27th), so many shows are shot these days about theatre, actors, and all things related. The theme of the show was, of course, ‘Theatre’. Since it is Youth Year in Russia, several representatives of youth-related institutions were invited. Among them Mr. Spesivtsev, director, actor, head of Moscow Youth Theatre; Mr. Rubtsov, head of the famous ‘Bakhrushinsky’ theatre musium; and your humble blogger as a representative of a theatre for the very young.

The whole event took about two hours and it was really fun. Many jokes, smiles, open-minded people, generous hosts, supportive environment. The latter was especially pleasant, since it was my first time being a guest in a show with such great people!

The show will air on March 27th, in the morning on channel ‘Doverie’ (Moscow). It is so bad I wouldn’t be able to watch it for the channel is not available in the area I live in. Still, maybe I’ll find an Internet-based site, which will translate this particular show.

We wish you a merry Christmas

We wish you a merry Christmas

We wish you a merry Christmas

And a Happy New Year!!!

God bless us all, let this holiday time be fun and wonderful!

Albatross Puppet Theatre, the place I work at, has already began preparations for the upcoming holiday season events. There is a set of things all of us have to do in order to start the New Year’s campaign (oh, yes, it’s not a Christmas, but New Year that is so popular here in Russia).

First, some candies and sacks had to be bought. We will make presents out of them later (a day or two before the campaign starts).

Then, the script had to be rehearsed. It’s quite easy thing to do, since there are only two characters in our introductory show: Ded Moroz (sort of Santa) and Snegurochka (his granddaughter). The script is a tradition of Albatross theatre, for many years it remains the same, though it doesn’t make it boring or old-fashioned.

Then, all the technical part has to be checked and rechecked. The microphones, the sound, the New Year Tree lights. The tree itself has to be assembled and put into a right place. The hall and the auditorium has to be decorated.

The actors decide who and when is going to perform, since it is common for actors to perform other shows elsewhere (sometimes all by themselves) during this time of the year.

And that’s about it. Two more weeks and we’re starting our campaign!

A week ago ‘Albatross’ Puppet Theatre (Moscow) has announced the new title openning, ‘A Bear And A Girl’.

I am playing the Bear, a silly creature of the woods who wants to become more human

This is a russian folk story of one little girl, Masha, who lost herself in the forest, then found a strange big shack which turned out to belong to a big bear. Even though the bear wasn’t cruel or mean (in our play he even wanted to become a more human creature), he didn’t want Masha to go back home. Instead he wanted her to stay because of her cooking talent. One day Masha asked the bear to bring a hamper of patties to her grandparents as a present, just so they knew she is all right. The trick was that Masha hid herself at the hamper and had been brouhgt to village! At the end the bear asks Masha to stay with her and the grandparents.

I play the bear part, and this is quite fun! Kids like to see a big bear acting as a little child, making silly gestures, talking naive. They even grow with love to the character. They love him so much that sometimes it sometimes shakes the path of the play. One time, after Masha had sent the bear away and hid herself in the hamper, a boy eagerly explained to the bear where Masha actually is! I’d had to pretend, openning the hamper that I see nothing but a whole big pile of patties. Another time some kids were begging Masha along with the bear to let him stay with her and the grandparents, naming all the bear’s qualities they’d found to be good enough to count for (‘You could make a bodyguard out of him!’ – said one girl).

I wouldn’t say that now the play ‘flows’ as smooth as it should be (we’ve only played it four times), but as the time goes by we’re all sure it’ll become one of prettiest gems among the productions of the ‘Albatross’ Puppet Theatre!