The Puppets that make us proud. Puppets Occupy Street, a story about stories

Big or small people, no matter how we are, the stories have always impressed us. And when a giant story takes over our own city, we think we can all imagine what vibration and atmosphere there can be.

Puppets Occupy Street Craiova is such a story, which we hope will never end. It's a story about friendship, courage, ambition, love for beauty and one that says clearly and bluntly "yes, we can too!". And we can despite the fact that we have been told that we are not capable.

Started in 2014, the storytelling festival nourished by the Theatre for Children and Youth "Colibri", encouraged by many other institutions and entities, has today become a monster (something big, that is, but not bad!) regarding national and international recognition. Because it writes, every year, a story around stories, with hundreds, in fact even thousands of people involved, including the public who, somehow, if a year passed without the Puppets, would feel much poorer and lonelier between 25 August and September 1. Because it would be a year seen in black and white.

With the merits also recognized by UNITER a few days ago, receiving the Special Prize for puppet and puppet theatre for last year's edition, Puppets Occupy Street managed this year, even during a pandemic, to make the city vibrate and to occupy the streets, and the open spaces, the squares, the parks, anything. It was not a monopoly, but a whole story that would not have been complete without each of the pieces of this great puzzle.

It may seem to you that we have repeated the word "story" too much. Frankly, that's not the case. Rather, we would like to hear it more often and for everyone; for puppet theatre is not only for the little ones, but also for the big ones. For the little ones, there is to teach them, and for the big ones, there is for them not to forget. Not to forget to love, laugh, play and un-grow sometimes.

Puppet theatre is the escape from a hectic world, sometimes sad and clogged with superficiality, into another world where evil exists, perhaps, just to teach you something and not to hurt you. It is colour in a grey and tired mindset and it is honey in the daily bitterness, in which we seem to intentionally choose to live.

And Puppets Occupy Street is such an escape, in which an entire city really feels and lives and learns day by day. Just like a spectator, the city is witnessing some changes from which it only has to learn, but also from which he is shouted out loud not to forget, because it would be a shame.

Craiova, Dolj and we think everyone thanks you, Puppets! 

Photo: facebook.com/PuppetsOccupyStreet