The fairy-tale play -Bread Brothers- combines a story from the Bible with northern Russian folklore tradition. The hero, Ivan the Fool, makes six brothers out of bread, and then sets off with them to track down death. On the way they have to cope with many ordeals, but when they have overcome them, the men made of bread turn into real people, and together they conquer death.

There are all kinds of secrets, big and small, scary and not very scary at all- But there is one secret which, sooner or later, is likely to affect everyone.

Every person has a dream. All the characters in this story have a dream too: Mum, Dad and their eight-year-old Son. They are moving into a new flat.

Unknown to them, two funny little mice are moving in with them, hidden in a secret pocket inside a bag. The lives and relationships of these mice is a mirror-image and parody of the lives and relationships of the people living in the flat. At first they all seem to be settling down nicely into the new flat- But-

None of them know that in the same building lives a TERRIBLE WITCH, and she has a dream too- Her plan is to take people-s most treasured wishes away from them, and to make them as indifferent as stones.

-THOSE WHO LOSE THEIR DREAM TURN TO STONE!- ? This is what it says in the MAGIC BOOK OF SECRETS, which by chance falls into the hands of our heroes. And then things start to happen which are fantastic, funny, and sometimes frightening, things which, in the authors- opinion, could happen to absolutely anyone at all-

Two artists, who possess the secrets of their trade, set out the aims and means of their art and carry out an initiation ceremony. The young painter Petr Ivanovich Ratatouille, armed with a knowledge of modern means of expression and with his devotion to the IDEA (Hnu), forces the SERPENT (representations of objects) to meet Death and emerges as the victor of this battle. As a result a perfect work of art appears in the world and everything is concluded with general celebration and feasting.

 Iuryi Shpitalnyi

A play for children-s and puppet theatres

The tribe of Indians lived happily on the Great Plain. But then disaster struck, nature rebelled, and the tribe found itself on the brink of destruction. And it was at this point that a boy called Little Deer, and his faithful friend Rabbit Vabasso came to the Great Leader. The boy wanted to help his people, but he was still very small.

The Leader told him what a real warrior ought to be like, and Little Deer set off on a journey with his friend Rabbit Vabasso to learn strength from Mokva the Bear, wisdom from the Queen of the Beavers Amik, and courage from Dzhiba the Eaglel.

The boys encountered many difficulties on their journey, but Little Deer came back to his people strong as a bear, wise as a beaver, and courageous as an eagle, and then helped them to survive in the face of nature.

A fairy-tale for grown-up children

In two acts (third, last, and, it is hoped, final version)

Imagine a town where it is always only one of the seasons of the year: winter. Every day its inhabitants celebrate the happy festivities of New Year, and the children have to go to one and the same lesson. A grandmother is the only one who remembers that when she was a little girl she buried a ?secret¦ in the ground - a piece of green glass, through which it was such fun to look at the world!..

There are two villains living in the town: the rascally plumber Vorkis and his wife Alibaba Viktorovna Iaitskikh, a botany teacher. Vorkis, of course, found and stole someone else¦s secret a long time ago and handed it over to his Boss in Murmansk. But, as you might guess, in the end Good conquers Evil and the endless New Year comes to an end.

The moral of the story is simple:

? Life should not be an endless celebration, however wonderful;

? Life should not be too luxurious or easy;

? Life should be free!

Translations into English by
Dr Katharine Hodgson
Russian Department
School of Modern Languages
University of Exeter
England