The idea for the show “A summer in a swamp” belongs to Margarita Shoselova, music choreographer of the Margaritki (Daisies) opera and ballet studio for children and teenagers, a show staged together with the Stara Zagora opera house.

The story unfolds during the summer holidays in a village called Baikal, where there is a swamp – the Chokliovo swamp – nearby. Three children go there year after year to play by the swamp and watch the animals. Two of them know an incredible amount about nature and want to be biologists when they grow up. One day another child comes to the village – the spoilt son of a big investor who wants to drain and swamp and build a hotel in its place. He knows nothing about animals and is constantly bragging how powerful his father is. But the good fairy comes along and turns him into a… bat. The bat-boy has to make a choice, be it good or bad, and what he ultimately decided – that is something viewers will be able to find out throughout June at the Youth Theatre in Sofia.

The libretto for the musical was written by Maya Dalgacheva and the idea for the characters and the stage set belongs to the youngest biologists from the National Museum of Natural History.

“To begin with Margarita Shoselova planned to have animals like pandas, seals and dolphins in the play,” says biologist and museum consultant Violeta Zhelyazkova. “But then she decided to replace them with other animals that are more familiar to children in Bulgaria. We opted to turn people’s attention to the things that are to be found and the things that are happening here, in our own country, things we are all connected with and can have some influence over. As a prototype of the swamp where the action takes place, we took Chokliovo swamp in the Baikal nature reserve near Radomir,” says Violeta Zhelyazkova and adds:

“The story is a familiar environmental protection drama of the kind we have been witnessing over and over again in recent years in so many protected territories. An investor comes along who wants to build a luxury hotel on a spot that is home to many rare and endangered biological species. The play, because it is addressed to children, has to have a happy ending. In the end, after a host of adventures, the boy is turned into a bat. But after a series of comical twists and turns, he finally persuades his father to stop the construction. The message we want to convey is that we must all respect nature and seek its beauty in places we never expected to find it. People’s idea of a swamp is that it is a dirty place infested by frogs and mosquitoes, a place that holds no interest. But that is not so, not by a long shot. Wetlands are extremely important natural habitats for birds and are essential to their protection.”

The most powerful message the young artistically-minded environmentalists want to convey is for children and their parents not to spend their time at the shopping mall because nothing interesting ever happens there.

“Going out to the countryside is so much healthier, educational and exciting for children,” says Violeta Zhelyazkova and adds:

“That is the way nature protection should be approached – rationally and with science-based knowledge, but at the same emotionally. Each and every one of us must be aware of our bond with nature. It is time we realized that we must protect nature and not just talk about it on Earth Day or during the Sofia Science Festival. Our show may sound naïve, like a children’s fairytale but once you’ve come in contact with mountains, lakes, the sea, the most natural human reaction is to want to live in harmony with nature, to preserve it. I feel sure that many environmental problems are due to the fact that people forget there are so many things outside the city bounds. It was so exciting to go to the premiere of “A summer in the swamp” in Stara Zagora, to see that the audience were as excited as I was, that they held their breath as they watched the story unfold. It would be difficult to single out just one moment of the show that I love best, but if I have to I’d say it is the moment of transformation in the way the principal character thinks – just one night spent in the swamp is enough for him to get to love all of its creatures.”

English version: Milena Daynova

Photos: operasz.bg and mlt.bg