The Story of White Bim with the Black Ear

On Tuesday evening, something very special was on the program. To fit with our project work, we visited the puppet theater. We met at 5:30 p.m. in front of the building, just as the lights on the big clock in front of the theater (which was stuck) and on the building itself went on. It looked very beautiful and got us in the mood for the performance that followed. The statue of a dog in front of the building also gave us a first impression, as it showed the dog Bim, which the play was about.

We entered the theater and took off our jackets in the foyer and lay them in the direction of the performance room. On the way there, we noticed aquariums with colorful fish on the edge, and, for me, something very special, a birdcage that extended from the ground floor to the first floor.

Due to the crowded streets of Voronezh, we were running late and quickly took our seats. In addition to us students, many younger children had also come to this performance (even though it said on the card that it was for children aged 10 and above), and it was a bit restless, but the restlessness subsided somewhat when the play started.

The play we saw was called "Белый Бим - Чёрное ухо" (White Bim Black Ear). The story is about a writer named Ivan Ivanovich who buys a Gordon Setter from a breeder, which is white instead of black but has a black ear. He names him Bim. Because of this anomaly, Bim was supposed to be killed by the breeder, but he finds a wonderful new home with Ivan. After a while, his new master has to go to the hospital due to a war injury, and Bim is left alone. During this time, he sets out in search of his master. Along the way, Bim meets many new people, through whom he experiences some positive but also many negative experiences.

The performance of this story was very impressive. The characters were portrayed partly by puppets and partly by humans, so humans also acted alongside puppets. The puppeteers were mostly visible, which made it possible to recognize the emotions of each character well. The set design was also very well done and very versatile. Simple apartment buildings from the 70s quickly turned into a truck, a dog kennel, or an apartment.

Thanks to these clear images, we were able to follow the lively and emotional events well, even though we understood very little of the text. The ending particularly moved all of us, because when the writer Ivan comes out of the hospital, he finds a little boy who is looking for the dog Bim and cannot find him anywhere. Ivan goes to the animal shelter to look for Bim. However, because his neighbor, who hated Bim, thought the dog had rabies, the already weakened dog was kept on a truck in the middle of winter. When Ivan arrives at the animal shelter to see his dog, it has already passed away.

This ending deeply touched me. The way people treated Bim made me very sad. However, the ending of the performance gave hope! The once gray set, which authentically depicted the 70s, was adorned with colorful rainbows, and a real dog even briefly appeared on stage. As Ms. Makk translated, it was said that many children had written letters and appealed not to treat animals like this!

In the puppet theater, we not only saw this sad and impressive play, but also admired a museum on the 1st floor during the intermission, where puppets and sets from previous performances were displayed. These figures showed the diversity of this puppet theater.

I would say it was a completely successful evening that made us think!

~Magdalena Heeg