A Mouse Called Julian (2019) is a picture book about a reclusive mouse called Julian by Waterstones Children’s Book Prize-winning author and illustrator Joe Todd-Stanton. The mouse prefers to spend his days alone rather than in the company of his neighbours and other residents of his neighbourhood. And he absolutely loves it.
By a strange coincidence, the reclusive Julian one day meets a fox. Initially timid and reserved, the two heroes soon find themselves having a nice dinner and slowly realise that they have found a friend for life in each other. Two completely different animals, which in nature could also be in a predator-prey relationship, become involved in a friendship that, at first glance, should never have developed.
The production is based on the themes of overcoming fear, the richness of friendship and relationships and is directed by the renowned and award-winning LGL animator Asja Kahrimanović. The production, which marks her directorial debut, uses puppets made by the illustrator, musician, graphic designer and versatile artist Jure Engelsberger, known as Engels. Together with an extended creative team, they have created a gentle but exciting adventure that emphasises that life can be more enjoyable if we let others in once in a while.
The Ljubljana Puppet Theatre is Slovenia’s central puppetry institution, rooted in the country’s centuries-old puppet tradition. With the opening of the Puppet Museum in 2015, it also became the official guardian of this rich cultural heritage. Today, the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre is a vibrant contemporary theatre that operates at the intersection of classical puppetry and modern performance poetics.
