Monday, September 18th; 17.00 and 18.30 h; Cultural Centre Travno; 3+; 35 minutes; in Slovenian
THUMBELINA
The story is about a little girl the size of a thumb who grows from a seed and goes through various trials in her life. First, she is kidnapped by a toad to be his son’s future wife. When she escapes with the butterfly’s help, she is carried away by a bug, which soon discards Thumbelina due to peer pressure. Before winter, Thumbelina takes refuge with a mouse, where in exchange for hospitality she cleans and cleans. In the tunnel that leads from the mouse hole to the mole’s home, a cold-numbed swallow is stuck, which they think is dead, but Thumbelina takes pity on it and takes care of it, warming it up so that the swallow can fly away in the spring. Meanwhile, the mouse promises Thumbelina as his wife to the mole neighbor, and Thumbelina does not refuse him, as she feels duty and gratitude to the mouse, who took her in when she was having a hard time. But that means living in the dark, underground. As she goes above the surface for the last time to say goodbye to the light and birdsong, a swallow flies by and at the same moment Thumbelina decides to travel with her. They fly to the southern regions, where a swallow deposits her in a flower field, where there are creatures like her. The Flower King falls in love with her. Thumbelina gets wings, marries the flower king and gets a name.
Andersen’s Thumbelina can be read as a coming-of-age story or as a story about a girl who ultimately makes up her own mind. She follows her heart and is rewarded for it. Experience the transformation. A cycle ends so that a new one can begin. Ending something that is lost requires courage, listening to oneself, or following your heart.
LJUBLJANA PUPPET THEATRE, REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA
Ljubljana Puppet Theatre is the main Slovenian puppet theatre staging puppet and drama performances for children, youngsters, and adults. Its predominant target audiences are children and young people. The public institution was established in 1948 (as the City Puppet Theatre) and has been based in Mestni dom in Krekov Square since 1984. In its work, the theatre builds on the hundred-year tradition of Slovenian puppetry. With the establishment of the Museum of Puppetry at the Ljubljana Castle, the LPT officially became the caretaker of this precious, century-old heritage. The theatre manages five regular and several smaller, occasional venues. At these venues, which offer seating for approximately a thousand people, it produces fifteen premieres a year and is visited by around 110,000 spectators. Ljubljana Puppet Theatre also pays special attention to cultural and artistic education in all its dimensions and at the national level cooperates in the endeavours to strengthen the standards and systemically place quality cultural content in the programmes of educational institutions.
