Current Repertory

A midsummer’s night dream is a romantic comedy written by William Shakespeare by 1590. It`s a play full of sensitivity and erotism. Two pairs of lovers are are carried through the woods, on the wings of magic, by an unpredictable and thinker goblin. They are joined by an unearthly couple, Oberon and Titania, who always put the quarrel entangled the two love stories. A complicated tangle of stories and sentimental intrigue takes place at night, as in a dream. The facts, which can start as simple, on earth, are transforming as the night is getting darker, the forest deeper and increasingly hallucinatory.It`s a magical night in which earthly and unearthly are caught in a dance. Frenzy, joy, exuberance overflowing over everything and everyone. Shakespeare said that „lunatic, the lover and the poet are all composed of fantasy”.Under the sign of fantasy is the new performance signed by Cristian Pepino. Ebullient humor, gags after gags, tinted acting woven with table manipulation, with highly expressive puppets that compose and decompose, simple décor, all completing a joyful, bittersweet image, where love conquers all.

The show captures the moment when Alladin is asked by the dervish to bring a magic lamp from a cave. From now on begins a series of adventures full of humor. The novelty of this show comes from the perfect integration of the digital technique in the play’s structure.

Compared to the original poem (or the dramatization of Peter Brook and Jean-Claude Carriere in 1979), the author of this had taken into account primarily the value and the human universal dimension of thinking of the Persian poet Farid Uddin Attar, of the Oriental philosophy, of the advanced character of knowledge, in general, and of self-knowledge in particular. The long and difficult road of “initiation” from Assembly of the birds, of the big journey, is deviated from Attar, from the other Oriental and writers, from the “sky”, becoming the demonstration of truth on Earth, of truth inside man, guilty and responsible for his destiny. This fundamental aspect of Attar’s literature, this detachment from religion, this wide humanistic opening of his thinking, determined us to choose the transportation that his uncle made him opt for the transposition of the text, considering it a cultural, poetical, philosophical act. On the other hand, he kept the original oriental beauty of thinking, but he is making steps afar from the fanaticism of monotheistic beliefs, especially of the Islam, in favor of rationalism and a true sense for the real life. The “initiation” becomes a fact of knowledge, a path of conscience to itself, the sole purpose of any genuine social frames

A modern, lively performance, full of colour and rhythm, played in a mixture of languages, which lends it a special savour and which, besides the classical means of animation, uses the digital projection technique. Voltaire’s short story is “read” imaginatively, with the director’s humour. The essence of each event synthesizes in fact the humanistic ideas of power, liberty, love and war. A performance for adults, in which the puppets, besides being handled with skill and dexterity by the young artists, have special expressiveness, highlighting the nature of each character through caricature.

This text is not a simple transposition of the well-known story of “Cinderella”, but a creation of the director, that is an ironic and tender commentary of the well-known events. An adiacent world of the characters (the spider, the mosquito, the mice’s family which releases, in fact, the story as theatre in theatre), the characters itself (created on the plastic principle of the porcelain puppets of the 19^th century), the music written by Rossini, give the humor, the warmth and the beauty of the performance made for children and not only for them.

„Am scris această piesă ca să învăţ să mor”. „Regele moare” o poveste caldă, umană despre viaţă, despre putere, despre moarte este, poate,  cea mai puțin absurdă dintre piesele lui Eugène Ionesco.

„Nu e de Goethe! Faust este un mit care a inspirat foarte multe piese de teatru. Dar prima versiune scenică a mitului a fost scrisă de către un păpușar anonim care a trăit înainte de Marlowe. Faust a fost unul dintre spectacolele prezentate cu mare succes pe scenele teatrului de păpuși din Europa, vreme de mai multe secole. Atât Marlowe cât și Goethe s-au inspirat din aceste spectacole de teatru de animație. Îi aducem și noi, din nou, povestea pe scena papușilori într-o versiune a vremurilor noastre.”

The action of the play is centered around the puppeteer, who lives in the jewish neighborhood of Prague, dominated by the mystically shadow of the Golem, that magical creature created by Rabi Loew. The puppeteer recreates the real world with the help of the puppets. His wish to enliven them becomes almost obsessive and this way he discovers a hidden and mysterious side of reality. The puppeteer’s story sometimes meets and bounds with the story of Pernath, the gemstones sander, himself looking for the perfect cut, the one who gives a simple rock a diamond value. In fact, both of them are unconsciously looking for enlightenment, that moment of grace when the angel touches you with his wing and it reveals to you the intimate resorts that governs your life. What is the role of Golem and if they will understand the miracle of everyday life, it remains to be seen.

A playful little boy with a big heart, eager to help his mother, succeeds to reach the realm of the Giant through the magic power of a  beanstalk, which he defeats cleverly and courageously. This way he revenges his father (lost long time ago in the land of the Giant) and ensures a decent living for his family in the future. Come and see it at the “Ţăndărică” theatre to join  the fight with the giant, to witness a puppet show of various types and sizes and also with the actors in sight!

The little red riding hood represents for me more than a famous story for children. It is actually a metaphor about the passing through this unpredictable life, about how we grow up and evolve with beautiful or sometimes terrible experiences. I wanted to create a performance which can emotionally touch the maturity of the child and the childhood of the adult. A poetic play, full of humour and significance. A Little red riding hood of our hectic and unpredictable times, in which the only alternative is the escape from reality…sometimes in stories.” Felix Alexa, director

Harry Nilsson, a famous american musician, wrote in the ’70’s a story about Oblio, a little boy with round head who lived in the Pointy-Headed Land. Because he’s different, Oblio is sent in the Pointy Forest, in a initiatory travel alongside with his dog, Point. For our show, the director Nona Ciobanu adapted the Nilsson’s story by using a innovative and spectacular scenography, as well as projected video animation.

The subject inspired by Matei Vișniec`s journalist experience is the mirror of the reality we live in. Isn`t it true the we are too many on this ”damn boat”, Europe? Aren`t we all becoming migrants by winning the right of universal citizens? They are everywhere, people are swarming from one place to another, from one country to another, there is a force that makes them move, that manipulates them. In ”Migraaaants!”, Matei Vișniec is talking about what is happening to us nowadays and about the ”invasion” to which Europe is being subjected.

”The journalist in me became a bit pessimist and he`s telling himself that the humanity derailed, the human being is completely irrational, the progress has a chimera face and the great speciality of the humanity is systematically repeating the errors from the past (eventually with accents increasingly serious). The writer in me continues to believe in the human being, in his capacity to build bright moral buildings, in the power to exceed his limits and to raise towards the civilisation, in the capacity to be aware of his contradictions and to conquer the fight with himself.” Matei Vișniec

The performance is a parody full of humour and very entertaining and focuses on the Romanian village. The décor creates a space very alike to the rural atmosphere as well as the puppets and costumes. The music also urges you to be part into a Romanian ring dance.

A tiger who`s afraid of anything: noises, thunders, clouds, dust, etc. His mother along with other tigers, decided to show him what fear truly means, and what you have to do to become brave. Different situations are being created, and a lot of characters appear to put Peter in situations with a happy end. Helped by imagination, he starts a journey which is going to change him. A story full of sensibility, a funny text, hilarious situations, long string marionettes remind us of the fascinating animation universe and teach us to be brave.

Pinocchio tells us in the beginning, Geppetto’s story, a carpenter in a small Italian town, who one day finds an enchanted log, of which he carves a wooden puppet he names Pinocchio. So begins the story of Pinocchio, who goes through a lot of adventures, that teach him what it means to be good and obedient. As a reward, the Good Fairy will turn him into a real boy. The story of Pinocchio became most loved by children around the world, has been translated into dozens of languages, has been adapted by famous writers such as Alexei Tolstoi and numerous film versions, especially cartoons. Pinocchio at Țăndărică: in this version, digital animation has an important role, intertwining with the acting, with the big sized puppets, masks and very evocative costumes. Each major character has a descriptive musical piece.

A nonverbal performance, a parable that reinterprets in a modern key Hamlet’s myth and the well-known story of Romeo and Juliet. During the performance filled with gags reminiscent of silent movies, we meet some famous characters from our everyday life which are oscillating between laughter and tears, reminding us that Shakespeare is our contemporary, that his characters are constantly recomposing, remaining credible and viable.

The performance faithfully tells the funny and humorous events experienced by the youngest son, wronged by fate and his prodigious tomcat, on their road to wealth and happiness. Hand puppets and large puppets, masks, pantomime, music, interactive dialogue between stage and audience – encourage us to escape into the world of Charles Perrault’s story.

”Rapunzel – the name of a plant. And then a girl. A girl with long long hair, reaching from a story by the classic storytellers Brothers Grimm. And from the Brothers Grimm to us. And the hairs slide into the performance’s mechanisms. They cause movement, they animate the puppets and the decor elements. Puppetised scenography. On sight – in all sorts of games: of the puppeteers with the strings, the puppets, the objects, the decor and … with a Storyteller seemingly brought from another time.” – Gavriil Pinte

It is one of the most loved stories for kids and it has a lot of versions in Europe. But the most popular of them all is the one from Grimm Brothers. The show made by Țăndărică Theatre keeps the classic story line, but the ingenuity of the director and the scenographic fantasy, the usage of black light technique, the presence of big sized puppets along the actors at sight gives a special charm and creates an atmosphere full of rhythm where good always defeats evil.

There once was a fox that was not any better than other cunning foxes. She always seeked to get food without hassle. One day, the fox picked off the road a lot of fish that fell from a fisherman’s filled cart, and when the bear requested some fish, the fox lied, telling him that she had caught it. Then she taught him what to do to catch some himself. She told him to go to the puddle in the woods, to put his tail in the water and stay there until daylight. When the bear pulled with all his might, he caught nothing, but his broken tail, which remained trapped in the ice. They say that’s when the bear lost his tail. The performance from Ţăndărică is dynamic, interactive and has a moral: do not trust people you don’t know, because “kindness is forgotten in the face of greed”.

The main character of the tale is a poor tailor whose story begins when he was preparing to eat some bread with jam. Angry with the flies which didn’t let him eat he kills seven of them with one blow of his hand. He makes a belt describing the deed, reading “Seven at One Blow”. This belt brings him fame and an unexpected fortune. He meets a giant and challenges with him. He will be the winner. Then, he enters the Royal service, will have a lot of adventures, and, finally, he will marry the Emperor’s daughter.
The tale was included in the collection of classical stories collected by Brothers Grimm and there are a lot of versions. The technique of tricking the giants is known from ancient times. As usual, the fairy tale has an animated cartoon and then a suite for narrator, percussion and seven instruments by 1950.
BROTHERS GRIMM
They are considered „the patriarchs of the stories for children”. Jakob (b.1785) and Wilhelm (b.1786) Grimm were born in the family of a lawyer and were folklorists, linguists,philologists, doctors of law, well known all over the worls for their collection of fairy tales, publishes in 2 volumes,Amon the tales we can mention: Snow White, The Brave Little Tailor, Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel. The tales written by Brothers Grimm enchanted our childhood, becoming starting points for various dramatizations and scripts. Brothers Grimm contributed to the formation of the German language. By writing the Book of German words as well as the first book of phonetics and phonology. “The Grimm Law” Jacob has 33 volumes and weighed 84 kg.
Our performance preserves the classical subject but uses the special techniques of animation theatre with puppets of different sizes and various means of manipulation. The new thing is coming from the use of the digital animation, specially created for this show and which is blending with actors’ manipulation, music and set design.

A visual nonverbal performance, in the black light theatre technique, which gives the impression that you are watching an animation. It is Pușkin’s classic story from which we can conclude that chasing goods by any means, only brings a temporary happiness and diverts from the really important things like love and self-knowledge, that give meaning to life.

“The Giant Radish” is a Russian fairy tale which enchanted us by its action and characters: the giant radish, the grandfather – the old man,the old woman – the grandmother, the granddaughter, the puppy, the kitty, the mouse. The grandfather plants a radish, which grows so large that he cannot pull it up himself. And pulled it, pulled it, but nothing…The old man called the old woman to help him. She catches the old man’s waist; the old man takes the radish by the leaves and… nothing. The old woman asked her granddaughter to come and help. The girl catches her granny’s waist, the old woman holds the old man and this one the radish. And pulled it, pulled it, but the radish doesn’t snatch. The granddaughter called the dog. The puppy holds the girl’s lap, the granddaughter holds the old woman’s waist, this one catches the old man, the old man the radish. All of them pulled and pulled, but no result. Then, comes the kitty. But nothing! The asked the mouse. The mouse catches the kitty’s tail, the cat holds the dog, the puppy the girl, the girl the granny, and that one the old man. They pull the radish, once again and, finally, they succeed. Our performance is interactive, cheerful, colorful and could have as subtitle: “Where one is not power, which many hands increase”

In this performance we can see actors, big puppets and masks, in a setting that suggests a Romanian village. The director dealt with the classical text by emphasizing its folk side, from the set to the characters’ stylized costumes, to different objects, to the music. This is a way to remember our roots.

Our performance is similar to the film made by Disney which transform Andersen’s story in significant way, the meditation on the spiritual values becoming a conventional story where at the end the heroine is rewarded with an earthly marriage. The Andresen’s mermaid is lured at the surface of the sea by two complementary but also separated impulses: the romantic love for a handsome prince and the moral desire to touch immortality. The little mermaid suffers when the prince got married with another girl who thought was his saver. Not being a mermaid, our heroine refuses to kill the prince scarifying her love and she remains for the rest of her life as a prisoner of the water.

The character of an immortal and most beloved story, the Little Prince is nowadays a legendary hero, symbol of a generous and responsible humanity which brings a message of hope and brotherhood. The story of the Little Prince, a blond boy with pure heart is told by a pilot who crashed in the Sahara desert. The Little Prince lives on an asteroid and decides to leave it and explore the world. He is convinced to leave by his beloved rose and whose vanity disappointed him. The Earth is the seventh planet he reaches, after meeting with various characters which illustrate a human defect or vice. He meets a snake, a fox and other flowers very similar to his flower. From each one he learned something in the same way that those who come in contact with him and his way of seeing things have something to learn, starting with the pilot and ending with us, the readers. At the end, the little Prince wants to return on his asteroid, but the only way is death, helped by the snake he falls to the ground without uttering a word. The little Prince a philosophical book and brings into question essential questions as friendship, love, death, time, reality presented in a formula for children combining video projection, acting and manipulation.

“Without going too far regarding Creangă’s story, the director Daniel Stanciu (who also wrote the script) adds to the already lively and rhytmed action an impressive color tint. Singing and dancing…The actors performance complement happy with the projections on the big screen. The director emphasizes the qualities of the old man’s “beautiful, hard-working and kind-hearted” daughter, but also highlights the “ugly and bad-hearted” nature of the old woman’s daughter”. – Maria Sârbu

An almost empty stage, with a cube in the center of it and a frame which symbolizes a whole universe. Two pannels will cach life and two actors. The show is a metaphor „drawn” by steady lines about the art of falling, the abilities to fly and the capacity of humans to overcome the dificulties of life, about the importance to have a supportive friend. The play invetigates the problem of gravity a it’s force involved in the daily life, the illusions and dissapointments of human beings. The communication with the public is direct, with simple means, through dance, movement, music, clownery and a little acrobatisc, like a child play with a lot of humor. The message ist o overcome the obstacles of life to be able to reach our dreams, to meet new people, to have friends, to know when to say goodbye and to help people in need.

The story keeps the pattern of Grimm Brothers, but the action releases a Zen atmosphere. The show has references to the Far East, containing musical insertions and personalized songs for each main character. The setting is very unique and very big in the landscape of Romanian animation theatre. The play is staged with long string puppets, human sized mannequins and masks

As all Creanga’s fairy tales and this one begins with „once upon the time” and finishes with „they lived richly and happily ever after”. His characters are taken as in „The she goat with three kids” from the world of animals. So, the comic is derived from the animal cleverness, who symbolically are speaking, thinking and acting, or simulating like human beings. In our show the original version is well preserved, but there are new characters which, in each scene, are emphasizing the rooster’s qualities. The show has humor, charm, fun ingredients which can amuse both children and adults.

Based on one of Hans Christian Andersen`s most famous fairy tale, the director Cristian Pepino brings on the stage an unique performance, with fantastic characters in a world full of magic and suspense.

We will be together with little Gerda in an adventurous journey, where she tries to finds her brother held prisoner somewhere in the land bewitched by The Snow Queen.  Her trip is a fascinating one, with a lot of moments which are meant to enchant the souls of the public

Matei Vișniec, the most played romanian drama author in the country and also worldwide, is having the “debut” on the Țăndărică’s stage, on a national premiere, with a play written for children. “The snowman who wanted to meet the sun” is a like a poem full of tenderness, innocence, sensitivity, which speaks about friendship, sadness, joy and hope. When he feels how the sunshine melts his body slowly, The Snowman begins a journey to find the sun and to ask him for mercy. On the way there he meets a bunch of animals, giving them the “accessories” that the kids decorated him in exchange of help to reach the Land of the Rising Sun. Once the journey comes to an end, he asks the Sun to help his fellow animal friends instead of asking something for himself. The time haven’t passed in favor of the Snowman, only his red heart remains to pulse, but the Sun promises that he will transform him in a dream and he will be brought back to life on the next winter.

A return to tradition. The show represents the return to one of the traditions of the puppet theater, the long-haired, puppet with a walkway. Staging is based on the classical story, but all the adventures of the three piglets are ironically approached.

In the story a donkey, a dog, a cat, and a rooster, all past their prime years in life and usefulness on their respective farms, were soon to be discarded or mistreated by their masters. One by one they leave their homes and set out together. They decide to go to Bremen, known for its freedom, to live without owners and become musicians there. (“Something better than death we can find anywhere.”. On the way to Bremen, they see a lighted cottage; they look inside and see four robbers enjoying their ill-gotten gains. Standing on each other’s backs, they decide to perform for the men in hope of gaining food. Their ‘music’ has an unanticipated effect; the men run for their lives, not knowing what the strange sound is. The animals take possession of the house, eat a good meal, and settle in for the evening. Later that night, the robbers return and send one of their members in to investigate. He sees the Cat’s eyes shining in the darkness and the robber thinks he is seeing the coals of the fire. He reaches over to light his candle. Things happen in quick succession; the Cat scratches his face with her claws, the Dog bites him on the leg, the Donkey kicks him with his hooves, and the Rooster crows and chases him out the door, screaming. He tells his companions that he was beset by a horrible witch who scratched him with her long fingernails (the Cat), an ogre with a knife (the Dog), a giant who had hit him with his club (the Donkey), and worst of all, the judge who screamed in his voice from the rooftop (the Rooster). The robbers abandon the cottage to the strange creatures who have taken it, where the animals live happily for the rest of their days.

A little boy not too tall that a finger, donated by a wizard to a poor family which wanted very much a child. After a lot of tricks and misunderstandings, Tom arrives at the royal court, gains the admiration of the good king. The performance is very entertaining using the black light laser techniques creating splendid images.

From amorphous soft pillows a story arises – a story about characters that recognize each other. In some ways they are similar and in others they are different. This recognition occurs in a play with puppets and actors. They are constantly becoming someone else. It’s a performance of form, voices, language and common sense.

Each of us, as children, were afraid of something: different animals, the darkness, noises, rain, wind and thunder, water or fire. Fluttering curtains, footsteps approaching, things you left in one place, inexplicably appear in another… A series of coincidences or not? How many of us don’t get frightened on hearing the word “Boogeyman”? The performance is about a little girl who, before going to bed, plays with the clothes from her closet, hears some strange noises and enters a world where she encounters characters from fairy tales. It is about the modernization of classic tales in which the common denominator is fear. Boogeyman is the embodiment of fear, and you get the feeling that he enjoys the little ones being afraid of him. Once she gets to know him, our heroine becomes Boogeyman’s friend, she learns to overcome her fears, grow with them and find her way through the world. Everything is a game, with few words, movement, music and dance, that uses the children’s power of imagination and aims to demystify some of the most common fears, showing that fear is a part of everyday life, but we can get rid of it by joking, making fun of it. The communication between stage and audience is sincere, direct, the pace is alert, and the final conclusion is that Boogeyman is the friend I shouldn’t be afraid of.