One of the Polish productions presented at the Najnaj Showcase was Ciałogranie, in which the set design symbolically and imaginatively depicted the interior of the human body. In its performance About the World, the Vilnius-based Theatre Lele does something similar, but in a different setting.

This time, we are invited into a forest, where the performers present animal species that share the Earth with us. They do so using a variety of puppets, which do not always resemble what they represent; however, it is enough to simply say “duck” or “cat” for a young viewer’s imagination to take over.

The artists engage the audience in a subtle and non-intrusive way. They encourage shared play, among other things by handing out mysterious little bags, each hiding an insect (in my case, it was a fly).

The premise of the performance is very simple yet intriguing—to make things that are entirely natural and ordinary appear extraordinary and fascinating, and in doing so, to show the youngest viewers how beautiful and diverse the world is.