“Fairy Tale language” ․ A language created for children to talk about/to them

Actress Ani Amseyan remembers that fairy tales and theater have always been in their family․ She especially loved the tales her mother had invented, in which she and his brother were the protagonists. During her school years she wanted to become an actress, she entered the Yerevan State Institute of Cinema and Theater, but already during her student years she realized that puppet theater is what she is really interested in.

During her student years, Ani was also a creator. In 2017, her book “Road to Silence” was published. Already in 2018, together with her husband, composer Hakob Mazlumyan, she started studying fairy tales, staging plays and playing them with and for children. Ani and Hakob have found their language of communication with the children, the fairy-tale language. The young couple founded the first interactive puppet theater in Armenia, which was called “Fairy Tale language”.

She admits that at the beginning of the project they were not sure that they had chosen the right name, because it is difficult to pronounce. For some time, there was an idea, the performances had started, but they did not have a name. Then they realized that the language of their communication with the children should be the fairy tale, hence the name “Fairy Tale language”․

Today “Fairy Tale” plays performances not only in libraries and museums, but everywhere. Ani says that there is a stereotype among parents that the performance must be inside the walls of the theater. Their performances are not in the theater, and the children sit not on chairs and in rows, but on pillows and freely. Ani says it is an attempt to free children from all stereotypes․

She is very attached to the idea of taking their theater out of Yerevan, in general, to the villages. She says that even in villages very close to the city, children often see a doll for the first time, they are surprised, how the doll talks, what is happening. Surprise and admiration are much greater than in Yerevan. That is why they never reject the offers to play performances in the regions.

Referring to the advantages of interactive puppet theater, Ani says that the important thing is that every child becomes a participant in the play ․

“Everything can be planned very well, but the whole performance is built on the element of interactivity. We have a plot line that we are guided by, but each performance is different from the other. It can be said that children have an equal role in the performance. Sometimes even the plot changes based on their reactions.

Sona Martirosyan

Full text in Armenian