The gigantic balloon
genre: puppet fairy tale
targeted audience: preschool and school levels 1–3
length: 35 min.
author, director, and animator: Andrej Rozman Roza
art design: Andrej Štular
puppets made by: Mitja Ritmanič
The play premiered in Slovene as Balon Velikon on 6 April 2002 at KUD France Prešeren Trnovo in Ljubljana.The English version of the play premiered 3 November 2009 at the Kids Euro Festival in Washington, D.C.
Five-year-old Oscar lives with his mother in a neighbourhood of apartment blocks. He has two grumpy neighbours who look at the world through narrow analytical eyes and don’t allow Oscar to live in a world of play. One day Oscar finds a banknote, which he uses to buy a bag of surprises. When he opens the bag, the realistic story turns into a fairy tale: an enormous balloon grows out of the bag and carries Oscar high above the real world, though in the evening it brings him safely home.
This play about the power of the imagination is written for one actor and animator, a large table-top marionette, three small hand puppets, and a balloon. In the last part of the performance, the audience has a chance to participate by offering their ideas and suggestions.
The English version of the play had premiered on 3 November 2009 at the Kids Euro Festival in Washington, D.C.
