There's hardly a place in Bulgaria where you can't hear rock music blaring. Inside or outside, like it or not, you're guaranteed a serenade. It's Balkan rock, music to make you modern. No matter you won't hear anything like it in Western Europe, leaving aside the Bulgarian lyrics. It's the idea of modernity that counts. Noted Bulgarian author Yordan Radichkov (sadly little known outside his native country) explores precisely this theme of how to be modern in We, The Blackbirds. Director Katya Petrova turns Radichkov's moralistic tale into a delightful puppet show to open the season at Sofia Puppet Theater. Six puppeteers manipulate A-shaped strips of colored fabric surmounted by a pair of eyes to make the six characters. A forked rod makes the "feet" of the A cleverly flip around. Yes, there is a rock musician -- red and white striped with a cool pair of shades for the puppet, black leather jacket for the puppeteer in full view. There is also a socialite, an intellectual, and a military figure in uniform. They set out for Paris -- walking instead of flying because that is more modern. They don't quite make it, becoming modern that is, and that's part of Radichkov's gentle warning. Nevertheless they and the audience have a lot of fun on the journey.
Your Bulgarian would have to be up to snuff to catch all the asides jibes at contemporary society in the fast-moving dialogue. But even without understanding the words, the inventive puppets and lively puppeteers plus Nikolai Temnikov's musical score are highly entertaining. The brass band scene is a highlight. Theater in Eastern Europe has remained a major forum to discuss important themes like this one -- replacing one's own culture with imported Western European norms. And the audience at this performance was mostly adult, as if to underline the significance of the subject matter in spite of the puppet treatment.
