I am a desert, full of tumbleweeds. No flowers, no rain. Fear crawls towards me, digs itself out from the dry ground, takes me in its tight embrace and whispers: “What if yet this seed will change nothing?

Before Thumbelina is an everyday fairytale for adults. The piece beautifully unfolds a touching story about a struggle with infertility, with all its related dreams and fears.

Carried by song, rhythms as well as puppet and object theatre, the first solo performance by Anna Nekrassova focuses on the moment before H. C. Andersen’s renowned story of Thumbelina. In this work we focus on the story’s Mother, a character we can only glimpse in the original tale.

The performance is supported by Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Turku Theater Foundation and Aura of Puppets.

Production Credits:

Director, script, on stage: Anna Nekrassova

Scenography and puppets: Laura Hallantie

Sound design and composer: Antti-Juhani Manninen

Rhythms: Akseli Nivala, Anna Nekrassova

Lighting design: Irene Lehtonen

Image Credit: Jesper Dolgov