About the performance
The performance “Heršlove fantazije” (Hershel’s Fantasies) is a subtle staging that unfolds through a collection of stories written by Jewish writer and Nobel Prize winner Issac Bashevis Singer. Bashevis Singer's modest and poetic style of storytelling is brought to life through subjective observations of human nature. Goodness and evil, compassion and indifference... He often spoke of the human spirit through biblical and folkloric wisdom.
With the help of a miniature paper theatre and puppets, the sounds of simple instruments, and the forms of physical theatre, the idea of metaphorical storytelling unfolds through the eyes of a young boy named Hershel. His own life experiences call for understanding and preserving the collective memory of Jewish traditions and life experiences. The performance explores ways of conveying a deep dialogue between the actor and the object. The performance is based on the principle of constant transformation of space: two-dimensional backdrops are transformed into imaginary landscapes, small found toys falling out of a music box are transformed into characters on a children's playground. Paper, which we perceive as fragile and temporary, is transformed into something lasting and important in the performance. The language of object theatre invites the viewer to take a closer look at the world of simple objects that take on new functions and meanings.
In the performance, Tina Resman (Hershel) carefully constructs a small street out of cardboard houses. They appear fragile, as if breathing under the actress's fingers. The vocabulary of silence at this moment conveys more than words in a dream scene, as the magic of sounds awakens the boy's imagination. The puppets, made of paper, cardboard, and recycled materials, retain visible traces of their past use. In this way, the performance represents the ethics of reusing objects, which helps us to better accept and understand our past.
Nika Korenjak
About the artists
Yulya Dukhovny, Jewish-American artist and stage director living in California. She often represents her work as “Microscope Toy Theatre”, a traveling theatre company founded by her in 2010. Dukhovny’s miniature-stage work displays diverse forms of narrative through object, collage, paper puppetry and sound. Her venues include multiple International Theatre residencies and festivals in France, Germany, Russia, Mexico and the United States. She is currently collaborating with the Lit Moon International Theatre Company on various productions as a visual artist. Dukhovny is a recipient of the Long Beach Arts Council Professional Artist Fellowship and a holder of the Stage Artistry Award from “Independent” press, Santa Barbara, for the production of “The Wind in the Willows” at Westmont College, Montecito CA as well. Dukhovny started her career as a classical pianist and studied at Mussorgsky State Academy in Ekaterinburg, Soviet Union Russia before a big journey of the two immigrations: to Israel (1990-2006) and to the US. She now lives in California. Dukhovny professional experience is extensively engaged in opera productions including work on more than 30 European and US opera productions with the New Israeli Opera in TLV and with the US companies: Opera Pacific, the Atlanta Opera, Los Angeles Master Chorale and at the IU Jacobs School of Music. She was Assistant and Associate Stage Director for 13 years, working for Franco Zeffirelli, David Pountney, Peter Sellars, Jean Claude Auvrey, Giancarlo Del Monaco and Manfred Belharz among many others. From 2010 she shifts with the professional transformation, fulfilling the dream to become an independent visual artist and stage director, experimenting with what she was always passionate about: painting, collage, miniature stage. Yulya Dukhovny expands her aspiration to combine means and forms of artistic expression. She creates the new show “Hershel’s Fantasies” in memory of her great-grandparents who, along with their younger kids fell Holocaust victims during the WWII in Odessa.
Marina Simonova is an actress-puppeteer whose work is rooted in a physical approach to performance and the manipulation of objects and puppets. Trained at the Saint-Petersburg Theatre Academy (2013-2017) and at the National School of Puppetry Arts in Charleville-Mézières (ESNAM; 2018–2021), she works as an actress-puppeteer with companies such as Plexus Polaire (FR), Tchaïka (BE), among others. She is also the founder of her own company, BananaFish(FR), based in Charleville-Mézières since 2024.
Tina Resman was born in Jesenice in 1998. In 2017, she enrolled in drama studies at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television. She received the Zlatolaska student award for her role as Jelka (directed by Živa Bizovičar, fourth semester production based on Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano). She played in the premiere of Simone Hamer Vse OK, directed by Matjaž Farič at the SNG Drama Ljubljana. At the SNG Maribor, she played in the play Elektri pristoji črnina (role: Hazel Niles), directed by Maša Pelko. She is completing her master degree in Drama – Theatre Singing at AGRFT. As part of the program, she created the master production Dama slanih oči, which was shown at the 53rd Slovenian Drama Week. At the Prešeren Theatre in Kranj, she played the role of Ljudmila Krese in the play Dame je strah? directed by Anđelka Nikolić. In 2023, she participated in the national Prešeren celebration directed by Matjaž Farič. In the SNG Nova Gorica production, she played the role of Carol in the play Oleanna by David Mamet. In the fall of 2023, she starred in the play Vampirček gre v šolo in a production by Mini Teater Ljubljana, directed by Nejc Potočan. At the Prešeren Theatre in Kranj, she played the role of Marička in Werner Schwab Predsednice, directed by Jure Novak. For this role, she received the Comedienne of the Evening award at the 32nd Comedy Days in Celje. In 2024, she played the role of Eva Cohen in Marković’s Beogradski trio at the Anton Podbevšek Theater, directed by Matjaž Berger. She appeared in Matjaž Farič’s play Nezaželeni, a co- production of the Flota Institute and Cankarjev dom. At the Anton Podbevšek Theater, she appeared in Življenje in časi Bertolta Brechta. At Cankarjev dom, she appeared in the play Antimusical: Spolzka tla, directed by Matjaž Farič. She played in the play Peter in volk at the SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana, directed by Ivan Peternelj. Directed by Juš Zidar, she played in the play Simultan/o at the Rampa Theater in Celovec. Tina Resman regularly lends her voice to animated characters. In the film Belo se pere na devetdeset, directed by Marko Naberšnik, she plays the character Kaja.
