A Joyful Purimspiel
For the third year in a row, an amateur puppet theater has been active at the Hesed center in Almaty.
On the eve of the beloved holiday of Purim, the amateur puppet theater from Hesed Polina prepared a wonderful performance inspired by an important message: mutual love can overcome anything.
Since Purim is a joyful holiday, the play combined a humorous retelling of the Purim story with mystical elements drawn from Jewish fairy tales. According to the theater’s director and scriptwriter Irina Urbanovich, the performance was dedicated to the strength of a woman who can overcome any difficulty when she truly loves. With the upcoming International Women's Day, the choice of theme proved especially fitting.
The theater team, made up entirely of volunteers, put enormous effort into presenting their creation in the best possible way. Everyone involved — the director, scriptwriters, puppet makers, costume designer, set decorator, puppeteers, and sound engineer — created everything with their own hands, combining talent and creative inspiration.
The volunteers also worked hard to record the voices and music for the performance. Sound engineer Alex Rakstri organized the recording process with great professionalism and dedication. Volunteers Alexander Fisunov and Larisa Kharitonova made significant contributions to the creation of the puppets, while every member of the troupe played an important role in bringing the show to life.
The audience included visitors of the community center, children from the after-school group, and little ones from the Hesed kindergarten. The spectators were delighted and truly appreciated the efforts of the theater team. At the end of the performance, the audience enthusiastically repeated the final lines together:
“Lechaim — we call out to one another in unity, Our ancient people remain undefeated!