Director, art director, set designer: Miha Golob
Dramaturgy: Mojca Redjko
Costume designer: Dajana Ljubičić
Composer: Andrius Šiurys
Virtual content designer: Borut Kumperščak
Lighting designers: Gregor Kuhar, Tomas Zinkus
Puppeteers, co-creators of the show: Kamilė Andriuškaitė, Kęstutis Bručkus, Vytautas Kairys, Renata Kutaitė-Raudonienė, Miha Arh, Gašper Malnar, Barbara Kanc k.g., Filip Šebšajevič k.g.
Cast: Kęstutis Bručkus, Vytautas Kairys, Renata Kutaitė-Raudonienė, Monika Mikalauskaitė-Baužienė
Recording conversations and editing audio recordings: Andrius Šiurys
Children interviewed by: Aušra Juknevičienė
Producers: Alja Cerar Mihajlović, Agnė Pulokaitė
Light and sound operators: Mantvydas Poškus, Paulius Vendelis
Set, puppets, props and costumes: Polona Černe, Sandra Birjukov, David Klemenčič, Zlatko Djogić, Zoran Srdić, Monika Colja, Smrekca d.o.o., Agnė Jablonskytė
Mirrors production: Konveks, Oliver Frlić, s.p.
Photos by – Mitja Vasič, Kristijonas Lučinskas

Sincere thanks to children who shared their thoughts about fear: Ąžuolas, Benediktas, Elija, Ugnė, Jonas, Sofija, Šarūnas, Marta, Emilis, Kornelija

Coproduction with Liubliana Puppet Theatre

Premiere: 29 October 2022, Klaipėda Puppet Theatre

‘Tunnel’ is an unusual production that seeks comfort in the dark and treats light like a delicious dessert. At first it seems that the light can be controlled, while the darkness—unknown, dangerous —cannot. However, in the performance, the situation is soon reversed – with a pinch of courage and a pinch of cooperation, we can safely enjoy the darkness as we dose it ourselves.

Based on the animation of light and darkness, the performance creates a ‘darkround’ (a playground for darkness), where associative visual and sound images are created that playfully raise questions about fear and courage. In material theatre, the event is conceived on the basis of the use of the material, which takes into account its physical, chemical, utilitarian and symbolic properties. In Tunnel, the animators animate and define the forms of darkness and light, discovering their movement and character, and bringing them to the point where they become a medium, not just a sensory perception. They offer young audiences an associative playground in which to exercise their imaginative world and polish their creativity, and adults a reflection on the dimensions of this omnipresent, intangible substance, which is quite impossible to grasp in one fell swoop.

Miha Golob is a theatre and puppet director who has received a number of awards in the field of puppetry both abroad and at home. His original concepts are often based on the idea of exploration and play with material, which consistently ensures an active and creative role of the spectator. In 2017, he directed the aquatic adventure Aquarium at LGL, and last season he continued his journey through analogue playgrounds with Sand Pit as a creative, social and civilizing playground. This year, as part of the European Mapping project, he returns to the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre with his original project Tunnel, in which light and darkness are the key theatrical symbols and the field of research.

Klaipėda Puppet Theatre
The theatre boldly focuses on discovering new ways of puppet expression, and its repertoire consists of interpretations by both local and foreign authors. The only professional puppet theatre in western Lithuania produces works for audiences of all ages. The theatre’s main mission is to present classical and contemporary puppetry to children and young people from Klaipėda and the region, to make them culturally literate and to support them in forming their own value system, which in recent years has established the theatre as an important carrier of the cultural programme for children and young people in Lithuania. Since 1997, they have been organising the biennial Materia Magica, a renowned international puppet festival.

Lutkovno gledališče Ljubljana
Slovenia’s main puppet theatre staging puppet and drama performances for children, youngsters and adults. Its predominant target audiences are children and young people. The public institution was established in 1948 (as the City Puppet Theatre) and has been based in Mestni dom in Krekov Square since 1984. In its work, the theatre builds on the hundred-year tradition of Slovenian puppetry. With the establishment of the Museum of Puppetry at the Ljubljana Castle, the LPT officially became the caretaker of this precious, century-old heritage. The theatre manages five regular and several smaller, occasional venues. At these venues, which offer seating for approximately a thousand people, it produces fifteen premieres a year and is visited by around 110,000 spectators.