«ETERNAL IMAGE OF CHILDHOOD» | Drama | II Almaty Puppet Festival – 2024

The play «Eternal image of childhood» was written by the well-known Kazakh playwright Rosa Mukanova, an honored worker of Kazakhstan, author of such plays as «Muza», «The Kingdom of Cats», «Sarah», and «Under the Roof» which have been staged in all the dramatic theaters of the republic and achieved great success. The performance «Eternal image of childhood» is dedicated to the children who became victims of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. Thousands of children and teenagers who were destined never to grow up remained buried under layers of gray ash as a result of nuclear explosions conducted in the Semipalatinsk region from 1949 to 1989. This play is intended for older children and adult audiences.

After a nuclear explosion, a girl named Lyaila was born, unlike other children. Her differences caused her to be rejected by everyone – family, peers, and even her beloved. At the age of twenty, she still looked like a seven-year-old child. Misunderstood and unaccepted in her society, Lyaila turns to the Moon, which she associates with her deceased mother. The tragedy of Semipalatinsk is not only a tragedy of the Kazakh people but also of the entire world, vividly embodied in the fate of this little girl, Lyaila.

The performance is in Kazakh.