Comment: Lessons from a children's show by the Passe-Partout theater company

Every year, June 1 manages to touch me, even if I’m not a child anymore. In my opinion, people who keep a little piece of their childhood in their souls are happier and more balanced and I think at least on this celebration day, we, as mature people should become kids again and enjoy the amazing thing which is life. This year, almost unexpectedly, I really experienced the return to childhood and its joy, serenity and beauty because of a theater performance called Butterflies and folks (Fluturi si oameni), by the Passe- Partout Company by Dan Puric. When I bought the ticket I didn’t know anything about this show, I wanted to see the performance, nothing more. I was surprised to see in front of the theater a lot of little children impatiently waiting to enter the show hall. I told myself “God, will it be a children's show and why am I here?” Now, I must confess, watching that performance being surrounded by children was indeed the best way to celebrate June 1 – Child's day, in Bucharest's Old Town. The show reminded me of the amazing tales of childhood: Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, The Little Mermaid, the Romanian character Pacala or the biblical story of the expulsion from Heaven and the tale of Cain and Abel. But more interesting, in my opinion, were the direction, mise en scene and music. Taking our hands in theirs, the actors walked with us on a path of magic with these fabulous and everlasting stories, beginning with the butterflies’ metamorphosis to one of the most important books for humanity, The Bible. The show was very interactive involving the audience in the show, the fairy tales leaping of the stage of the theater. So the children were happy to “tell” the wolf from where to take his poisoned mushrooms or the little girls invited the Prince to search for the owner of the crystal shoe lost by Cinderella. The children were fascinated by the sea world and everyone enjoyed discovering the names of the sea creatures. Every story of the show was accompanied by very well chosen music, classical, traditional and modern, from Bach to tango, from French Chanson to Romanian traditional music. The whole audience; children, parents and grandparents were in awe. The entire show is an allegory which opens the mind and especially the soul of the public, no matter the age, but, at the same time, it is a lesson: the world as a fairy tale, the world seen by children’s eyes can save us. The show is a genuine lesson where children learn about tales, good music, wonderful lights of life and where they can participate, developing their imagination, communication and social skills. All the stories were linked to each other, leading the mind and the imagination of the children to the idea of universal interconnection. I wonder if classes in Romanian primary schools manage to give children all these... actually, I know they don’t, so I invite the managers of the Romanian educational system to see the show and the public’s reaction and, based on it, maybe to try to re-think the curriculum. I think that this show can replace many boring, stiff and full of unimportant information classes in our schools. Such types of performances can develop a real, complete human being with mind, heart, beliefs, imagination, balance and social skills, which, in many cases schools are unable to generate. Of course the show had many subtle metaphors for the mature public too but, because the meaning of the day when I watched it, and much more because of the joy and happiness which I felt, I wanted to cast a light on what an intelligently created show can bring to the world of children.