Romanian puppeteers recreate 'Town Musicians of Bremen'

Puppeteers recreate 'Town Musicians of Bremen'

A children's tale - 'The Town Musicians of Bremen' by the Brothers Grimm is being retold with
puppets, this time by a Romanian theatre company.
It's one of the most popular foreign folktales in China.

A children's tale - 'The Town Musicians of Bremen' by the Brothers Grimm is being retold with
puppets, this time by a Romanian theatre company.
"We came here for 'Town Musicians of Bremen'," said an audience.

"I liked the story when I was a kid. And now that I'm a parent, I am passing it on to my child,"
said a parent.
"My girl adores the folktale of 'Town Musicians of Bremen' . And she plays saxophone. That's
why we are here," said another parent.
The plot is familiar, but chances are none has seen "The Town Musicians of Bremen" done this
way before.
"At first, we were not accustomed to watching the puppeteers acting on stage wearing black
suits. I was afraid my three-year-old girl might be scared. But soon it really grew on us. The
melody and the acting are amazing," said an audience.

A children's tale - 'The Town Musicians of Bremen' by the Brothers Grimm is being retold with
puppets, this time by a Romanian theatre company.
"It's completely different from China's traditional way of manipulating the puppets through
strings. Chinese puppeteers are usually hidden behind the curtain, while the Romanian
puppeteers are acting on stage with the puppets. You can see the mechanics of how that works,"
said another audience.
The Tandarica Animation Theatre is one of 43 performances at the China Children's Theater
Festival, now in its fifth year. The Romanian company's president hopes this visit to Beijing will
pave the way for more international collaboration.
"Tandarica Animation Theatre was founded in 1945. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the
founding of our theatre. We're glad to be here to share our performance with Chinese artists and

audiences.Through the story of 'Town Musicians of Bremen', we aim to call on youngsters to

care for their elders. I've watched Chinese children's plays in Guangzhou and Hongkong. I hope
there will be more cultural exchange between China and Romania in the near future," said
Mocanu Octavian Calin, Tandarica Animation Theatre.
But the China Children's Theater Festival is not just inviting children to be passive spectators.
For instance, 60 pupils from four local primary schools in Beijing are rehearsing with artists
from the American Missoula Children's Theatre in Montana to create an English-language
performance of "The Princess and the Pea".