a paper toy theatre piece performed in a suitcase.
Original play, design, music: Yulya Dukhovny

Nadia, a little girl, loses her passion for life. All day long she lies in her bed,
getting thinner and weaker. Until one day, following a dream she has
dreamed, she makes a wish. She would like a real elephant to visit her. Will
her father take this challenge and make it happen? Will she get well? As the
story unfolds, the spectators will gasp upon the revelation of the larger-
than-life leading character!

The play is suggesting a theatrical retelling of the children’s novel by Alexander Kuprin – one of many Russian émigrés classical writers living in Paris in the first part of the 20th century. The “Elephant” was written in 1907 for reading aloud to children and became favorite of many generations. Paper Toy Theatre emerged in the 19th century across Europe and America, when revolutions in printing made possible the creation of printed backdrops and characters. Today, paper toy theatre is a multi-disciplinary form, fusing visual art, staging, music, and literature. Yulya Dukhovny is a Russian-Jewish-American artist and musician. She explores diversity of dramatic forms of narration through stage, collage, and puppetry. Dukhovny often represents her work under the name Microscope Toy Theater.

Voice of narration: Neil Averill

More about the artist: www.scopetoytheater.com