Mons la Girafe

When sweetness resists darkness, when history dialogues with the present.

Continuing to create shows in Kharkiv, in the midst of the Ukrainian war, is an act of resistance for the Afanasyev State Puppet Theatre. Mons la girafe reactivates this heritage, telling the story of a giraffe living in a Nazi-occupied zoo during the Second World War. Through the eyes of a child, this allegorical tale links the horrors of the past to those of the current Russian-Ukrainian conflict, addressing themes such as loneliness, fear and compassion.
The puppets and sets, designed by artists Oksana Dmitrieva and Kostyantyn Zorkin, combine wood and metal, evoking the ruins of Kharkiv and its devastated buildings. While war is at the heart of the story, emotion does not exclude tenderness and humor. Without ever lapsing into hatred or pathos in the face of a war that unfortunately remains topical, the Ukrainian artists breathe light, poetry and hope into the story. Scène nationale de Bourg-en-Bresse is showing its solidarity with Ukrainian artists by hosting this show in partnership with seven other French theaters.

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