THE LITTLE SPARROW
He is neither a frog nor a mosquito, he is a young, curious Sparrow! Little sparrow Pudik was born in a children’s park after an exotic dance of two exceptional sparrows. He is incredibly intelligent and sensible, he knows the world better than any older bird, he understands wind roses and delicious bugs and berries, he composes and dances, but – he doesn’t fly yet. And like every little sparrow, he curiously sticks his beak out of the nest into new adventures. Mom says it’s not good to lean out of the nest, but as far as moms and dads know, they always only talk the way it says in books – they chatter, they chatter about random and nonsense things. And the young – they think for themselves! The play Little Sparrow is based on the children’s story of the same name by Maxim Gorski, adapted and dramatized by Filip Rutić and produced by the Experimental Puppet Theatre. Out of respect for the author, it premiered in Maksimir Park, but its desire is to visit every children’s park on the planet. Little sparrow Pudik invites children to play, to explore and discover the world outside the nest together, but at the same time calls on them to be careful and listen to those who always speak exactly as it says in books – our parents.
EXPERIMENTAL PUPPET THEATRE, ZAGREB, REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
The Puppet Experimental Theatre Association (LET Theatre) was established in 2018 as a continuation of the theatre of the same name. The LET Theatre has been operating as a non-profit organisation for twenty-six years, during which time it has developed its experimental style by involving interested amateurs who, through each project, have contributed to the development and research of innovative puppetry practices with their creative contributions. The LET Theatre was founded by the famous Zagreb puppeteer Vanda Šestak Vilić in 1992. The theatre recently became a non-profit organisation, currently led by Iva Lipovac – a long-time director and mentor of our small theatre. LET has been gathering young amateur artists for twenty years, and has performed various texts of children’s literature, from stories by the Brothers Grimm, Rudyard Kipling, La Fontaine, Andersen’s fairy tales, to original texts. It has many domestic festivals, tours, puppet improvisations, and accidental and intentional theatre successes.
