A Shadow Play Performed by Students to Premiere at HSE School of Design
On March 16, first-year students of the ‘Event Design. Theatre. Performance’ programme at the HSE Art and Design School will perform a shadow play entitled 'Don't Seek Summer in Winter.' The premiere performance and the preceding event are based on a Slovak folk legend and Samuel Marshak's fairy tale 'The Twelve Months.' The performers will guide the audience through the four seasons, allowing viewers to experience all twelve months at once, like the main character in the fairy tale, and to discover light amidst the all-encompassing darkness. The event is open to anyone interested, but registration is required.
'The Twelve Months' is a fairy tale created by the Soviet writer Samuel Marshak during a hard wartime period. Legend has it that in the war years of 1941-1945, Marshak received a letter from a young reader asking why the author had ceased writing fairy tales and instead focused solely on military poetry and prose. This fairy tale instilled young readers with hope for a brighter future, much like the magical figures representing the months instilled the main character with the belief that even the coldest winter is always followed by spring.
The play highlights the stark contrast between harsh reality and the enchanting fairy-tale world, which not only provides a temporary escape from sorrows but offers hope for a better future. Or perhaps it's reality itself that intertwines with the fairy tale, becoming a part of its narrative?.. This mysterious synthesis will engage both young viewers and adults alike as they unravel its intricacies.
The HSE School of Design at 33 Kirpichnaya Ulitsa/44 Izmaylovskoye Shosse, Building 2, will host the premiere performance of the shadow play on March 16 at 6 pm.
If you are not a student of HSE University, please be prepared to present identification to security.
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