Critique of the play GULI

You have a puppet, here's a shadow

author: Divna Stojanov

There is a yellow curtain on the stage, two pairs of hands open a small rectangular portal and there we meet a boy Guli, the protagonist of the non-verbal, puppet show Guli directed by Efrat Hadany and Pablo Ariel and produced by the Galilean Multicultural Theater from Israel.

The plot is simple: Mother leaves Guli with his grandfather, which he reluctantly accepts. However, on his grandfather's initiative, the two of them soon enter the world of shadows and games, which consequently changes their relationship. On the left and right side, and under the opening on the curtain, we see the silhouettes of grandparents and grandchildren planting plants that magically bloom, hanging laundry on a string that turns into animals, watching the sea world, making cakes, knitting, forming different shapes with their hands. Simple, and very imaginative, grandfather makes an elephant out of his own hand, so he carries Guli to the bed, he makes puppets with his blanket and socks...

Guli is a touching and entertaining play that has managed to come up with innovative solutions, or at least those that are not first-rate and expected in the domain of shadow theater, which is a great endeavor considering that this type of theater dates back to classical antiquity.

The scenography is signed by Pablo Ariel, who is also the performer in the play together with the skilled Roni Level Marsland. It is amazing how many stage events and changes took place in a small space and how the connections between situations and scenes are densely and meaningfully woven. The music (Gustavo Bustamante) followed the emotional jumps and narrative changes very well.

As our audience often does not have the opportunity to see the shadow theater, Guli is a real, exciting and playful example through which children can learn and be interested in a different type of theater.