"Danny and Dessi" - a puppet theatre "on wheels"

By: Svetlana Dicheva, Bulgarian National Radio

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It was not easy to meet the members of the family puppet theatre "Danny and Dessi". They are usually en route. These days they just came from Poland after taking part in the International festival in the city of Lodz. In July they will be in Spain, in August - in Mexico. The small private theatre realizes shows that are portable and can be performed everywhere - on stages, in kindergartens and schools. This mobility makes it welcome to various gatherings. Since 1995 when "Danny and Dessi" was established it has performed in 39 international festivals.

The company has four members: Atanas Evtimov - managing director, stage designer, technical expert and an actor. The puppets he makes reflect his own understanding of what is interesting and attractive to children. Tania Evtimova, his wife, is an actress and art director. She worked in the State puppet theatre of Haskovo for 10 years and she has won many prizes as an actress. Their daughter Dessi Dimova plays successfully "the role" of a composer. The 16 year old son Danny gives some ideas and prepares to join the others in their collective family work. For Evtimovs theatre is family and family is theatre. There are advantages and disadvantages out of this. The advantage is that they are always together, exchanging new ideas, struggling multiple obstacles and challenges, travelling abroad and inside the country. The bad thing is that they can not stop talking about theatre. Sometimes they think that there is no dividing line between family life and professional realization. They can not plan their holidays as "ordinary people" do. The respite from toil comes occasionally as unexpected break between performances and tours. The two children are integral part of all this theatrical dedication and it is not a surprise that after giving the company its name 10 years ago they are now respectable members of the team. According to the critics the most important things in the actors work of "Danny and Dessi" are professionalism, improvisation, imagination and the natural communication with the audience. Every performance is a unique try and a curious combination of different theatre genres: music, puppetry songs, clown show, drama and puppetry. The last two performances of "Danny and Dessi" are "Thumbelina" after Hans Christian Andersen and "Princess Little Drop", a play written and directed by Tania Evtimova. "Thumbelina" is dedicated to the 200th anniversary of Andersen's birth. The theatre version has been written by the famous Bulgarian author of literature for children Kina Kadreva, who is one of the seven authors in the world, winners of the Andersen award for children literature. As to "Princess little drop", this is an experimental show based only on music - a fairy-tale of the sea, the sea bottom and its inhabitants with many light effects. It was presented at the International Art Festival in Barcelona, Spain in 2004. The next project of "Danny and Dessi" is the realization of a show based on the authentic Bulgarian folklore. The Evtimov family is reluctant to talk in advance about it. As almost every artist in Bulgaria they are superstitious. The tacit rule is to prepare everything, from the first to the last step and only then to make the project public. What can be said is that the performance will be unusual, based on interesting whims. The artistic philosophy of Evtimov family includes combination of traditional and innovatory approach. They embrace experiment setting foot deeply in the tradition of European and Bulgarian puppet theatre. Their scenography is light, mobile, uncommon, demonstrating the multiple possibilities of the materials. Their puppets are very different from the traditional pattern. Evtimovs admit that the permanent travel abroad is the best way of seeking and collecting new ideas. It's a grain that must be put afterwards in the native soil to bear fruit.

During our meeting Evtimovs didn't mention even once the crucial topic - money. The theatre usually applies for different programmes and wins. There are only seven state puppet theatres in the country which receive subsidy after a hard competition. Some municipal puppet theatres still exist going through difficult times. "Danny and Dessi" is competitive enough to survive. Survival is not the right word for the ambitious theatrical company. The "puppet family" would prefer progress.

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