Licurici Republican Puppet Theatre
Moldova's national puppet theatre, founded in 1945, playing to families in Romanian and Russian.
The Licurici theatre, whose name means firefly, was set up in the summer of 1945 and gave its first performance on 15 October that year with Foișorul, after a tale by Samuil Marshak. It was founded with two acting companies, one playing in Romanian and one in Russian, an arrangement it has kept ever since. Among the first company were N. Ilinski, D. Socoliuc, D. Apostolidi, R. Levin, A. Neaga, T. Julea, L. Untu and E. Ghejenco, who between them established puppetry as a professional art in the republic.
It is the country's national puppet theatre and works from a building on Strada 31 August 1989 in central Chișinău, close to the government quarter. The repertoire runs to some thirty-five productions, mixing familiar fairy tales such as Cinderella and Puss in Boots with adaptations of Moldovan writers, among them Spiridon Vangheli's Guguță stories. Alongside its home performances the company tours schools and towns across Moldova and appears at puppetry festivals abroad.
Highlights
- Founded in 1945 and opened with Foișorul that October
- Two permanent companies, playing in Romanian and Russian
- Repertoire of about thirty-five productions for children
- Tours schools across Moldova and festivals abroad
