THE HISTORY OF CHILDHOOD

Between June 1-4, we bring to light stories from bygone times and celebrate the way children have always, in fact, experienced the world: with trust and curiosity, with courage and freshness. Wholeheartedly. With all their heart.

Istoria Copilăriei (4 episodes) is coming into your homes, where little ones can enjoy this production online, for free!

The show that closes this year's MiniReactor season will be available at this link:

Happy birthday, children! Happy birthday, childhood!

The double-bill show "Istoria copilăriei (4 episodes)" is the result of a partnership between the MiniREACTOR theatre and the GONG Sibiu Theatre for Children and Youth, and represents a challenge both for the members of the two teams and for the young audience.
Children's lives in past centuries were extremely different from those of children today. Throughout history, children have been seen at times as born sinners, at other times as embodiments of a supposed angelic innocence. In the West, it was only starting with the 20th century that children stopped being so exposed to death, abandonment or beatings, and the relationship between parents and children entered an age of mutual understanding.
Conceived as an X-ray of the childhood of our parents, grandparents or ancestors, it gives spectators the chance to better understand past generations and how perceptions of raising children have evolved.
The show presents four stories about children from past times, to highlight how the condition of the child, and the dynamic between child and adult, has evolved over time.

"PĂIANJENUL DIN INIMĂ" ("The Spider in the Heart") by Petro Ionescu
directed by: Delia Gavlițchi
with: Angela Páskuy, Adrian Prohaska, Claudia Stühler
dramaturgy assistant: Roxana Țentea
1800. A little girl is forced by her parents to finish her chores and stop playing. With the help of the unexpected appearance of the Invisible Little Boy, she discovers the spider inside people's hearts. She sets out to teach her parents to accept their own spiders and care for them gently.

"DE-A BABA" ("Playing Granny") by Alexa Băcanu
directed by: Olivia Grecea
with: Angela Páskuy, Adrian Prohaska, Claudia Stühler
1600. On a full-moon night, Geta's parents send her with a ball of yarn to her grandmother, who lives in the scary forest. Grandmother teaches Geta how to accept her fear and what "weapons" to use against the characters that trigger it: courage, kindness and wisdom.

"RĂBDĂRI PRĂJITE" ("Fried Patience") by Alex Moldovan
directed by: Ana Crăciun-Lambru
with: Cătălin Filip, Doru Taloș and Oana Tămaș
1980, the Communist period, a city in Romania. A group of children play behind the apartment block, dreaming of the football career Gigel will have. His mother sends him to buy bread, but he loses the ration card and finds himself having to run away from home, ashamed of having missed out on his bright future.

"CARUSEL" ("Carousel") by Ana Cucu-Popescu
directed by: Diana Dragoș
with: Cătălin Filip, Doru Taloș and Oana Tămaș
assistant director: Adriana Creangă
A little girl travels back in time, to the 1500s, to a marketplace. There she watches children being sold at negotiable prices, just like animals. What upsets her most are the differences in gender, price and interest per child, between girls and boys.

Bringing to light stories from bygone times, we celebrate the way children have always, in fact, experienced the world: with trust and curiosity, with courage and freshness. Wholeheartedly. With all their heart.

Co-producers: MiniREACTOR and the GONG Sibiu Theatre for Children and Youth