Three Golden Hairs at the puppet theatre. (source: Ondrej Synak)
BRATISLAVA’S puppet theatre, Bratislavské Bábkové Divadlo (BBD), celebrated its 55th birthday on March 1, 2012. Renamed from the State Puppet Theatre in 2002 it premiered its first performance on April 17, 1957: Josef Čapek’s famous fairy tale O psíčkovi a mačičke (About a Dog and a Cat), directed by Zdeněk Říha, the TASR newswire wrote.
The theatre group has performed innumerable Slovak fairy tales since then, as well as innovative versions of Gulliver’s Travels in 1985 and operas such as Mozart’s Magic Flute in 1990 and Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore - The Elixir of Love in 1994.
The cult fairy tale Princezná Kukulienka - The Princess Kukulienka by Slovak author Ján Romanovský had its premiere on June 11, 1982, and its 500th show on February 18 last year, a feat that has ensured it an inscription in the Book of Slovak Records.
Since 2005 the theatre has organised a biennial puppet festival and in November 2011 it participated in the Night of Theatres for the first time.
Shortly after the BBD celebrated its birthday, it offered a premiere of a famous fairy tale by Czech writer and folklore collector K. J. Erben called Tri zlaté vlasy deda Vševeda (The Three Golden Hairs of Grandfather All-Know).
The modern version of the script was written by Dana Garguláková and is full of humour and current expressions, while respecting the original work. The puppetry is enhanced by the music of pop-rock band Vetroplach and directed by Dušan Štauder, the head of BBD.
