PikPok.online@guguță: A Theatrical Performance That Shapes the Young Viewers’ Media Skills
For more than two years, preschool children and primary school pupils from our country have had an opportunity to watch the PikPok.online@guguță show from the repertoire of the Guguta Municipal Puppet Theater. The play was initially released in the video format; since November 2022, it is included in the repertoire of the Guguta Theater in Romanian, and the Russian version was launched in February 2023. From April 2024 to March 2025, the play was part of the tour across the country, which included twenty Russian preschool and primary educational institutions. The theatrical performance helps children understand that, along with multiple advantages information technologies have, the online environment also includes various challenges, especially these related to the quality of the information. The show is created in cooperation by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) and the actors of the Guguta Theater.
According to Anastasia Nani, IJC Deputy Director, media education is a priority for the Independent Journalism Center. For more than ten years, since the first media education project was launched in April 2014, various information literacy activities have been taking place every year: a campaign for promoting media education in schools, workshops for teachers, camps, hackathons, and an optional media education course implemented jointly with the Ministry of Education and Research at the three levels of education; it included developing media education manuals for each level in order to provide efficient teaching of this subject. After eight years of teaching Media Education in schools, the Independent Journalism Center has started piloting the Program for Integrating Media Education Content into Core School Subjects to contribute to promoting critical information consumption among pupils and to encourage as many teachers as possible to join this initiative.
“In 2022, we considered a new challenge which involved theater in promoting knowledge about behaving in the online environment for the first time. The idea for a show emerged when the story titled ‘A Click of Fangs or the Manipulative Wolf’ by media researcher Solvita Denisa Liepniece from Latvia arrived at the Independent Journalism Center. After translating and publishing it, we said it would be a shame not to take any more advantages of this story. We were aware of the fact that theater is an interactive form through which both children and adults can learn. We were glad to see that the creative team from the Guguta Theater was also eager to join us in implementing our idea. Therefore, together, we have succeeded in transforming such a complex issue as manipulation and false information into an accessible and captivating artistic experience for children,” Anastasia Nani says.
Gabriela Lungu, the theater director, fondly recalls this social educational project and the entire journey for implementing it: from a storyline written on paper to a theatrical sketch and the show played on various stages in the country and abroad.
“Two years ago, we accepted cooperation with the IJC on a rather interesting and ambitious project. At first, it was a brief video version published online. The audience seemed interested in its the content, it was shared on various social networks, and after that, we had to be even more creative, to reconsider the script, and to take the plot to another level – to stage a show adapted to individuality of kids in Moldova. This is where we faced a great challenge: we had to adjust the language of the story to the one spoken by kids nowadays. Together with digital technologies, new words emerge, and we are not very familiar with them. I have to admit it took some time and effort to insert some notions and words close to the vocabulary used by young people today to make the performance more understandable and attractive,” Gabriela Lungu explains.
“We played it at several festivals in Romania. The kids were receptive, as the content was comprehensible to them. It makes us happy. It is very important for us to know that the messages we convey reach our audience. We observe the children’s reactions as they see the protagonists’ behavior. Kids learn simple rules of conduct in the online environment: they may actually know them, but they do not always comply with them. They are warned that lying is not nice, and you have to stay honest with your friends,” Gabriela Lungu affirms.
Actor Alexandru Sali admits that playing the manipulative wolf is not an easy task. “Kids react differently. Some applaud, while some others start yelling. I get emotional every time I am in front of the audience because I expect some reaction from them.”
“I play a positive protagonist who provides pleasant emotions to children during the play. It is not difficult for me to play Rica bunny because she represents me. I tell kids not to believe everything that is published online because not everything is actually safe. I advise them to follow the advice from their parents, teachers, and other close persons who would like to protect them from online risks,” Lucia Zmuncila, her colleague, adds.
Mr. Filter, the “head of social networks” in the play, who is in charge for the information published and distributed, is played by actor Iurie Popa. “I am really pleasantly surprised when kids resonate with the messages we convey. The topic represents the situation we have nowadays – kids are lured by information technologies which distract them from reality and keep them in ‘information bubbles.’ The example of the manipulative wolf in PikPok is similar to what they can encounter in their real life on TikTok or other social networks. As parents, teachers, and adults in general, we are in charge of making them aware of the virtual challenges that can even be dangerous to their lives,” he says.
Since February 2023, PikPok.online@guguță is played in Russian. “This is the first Russian-language play in our theater’s repertoire. From April 2024 to March 2025, we held a tour of 20 shows at Russian-language educational institutions in our country. The shows were free, and we are happy that we have managed to reach about 2000 children during this project; some of them have never been to a puppet show before. Unfortunately, there are some localities where there are only several kids in the entire village, and no one contacts them because they are so few. We keep trying to find projects which help us reach as many children as possible, and it also includes financial availability for the audience. We are interested in this sort of social educational projects, and we rely on the continuity of information and media education activities for the younger audience,” Gabriela Lungu concludes.
EXAMPLES OF HEALTHY HABITS
At the end of the shows, several children, teachers, and parents shared their impressions of the play presented by the Guguta Theater.
“As a director, teacher, and mother, I can say this performance is very useful. No one is there to explain the dangers of the Internet to the little ones. Parents probably warn them about some specific traps, but children are likely to interpret their words as another prohibition. Due to puppet theater, fairytales, and real-life examples, they develop healthy habits,” Natalia Chiperi, principal of Dimitrie Cantemir Theoretical Lyceum in Rascani Town, mentions.
“Unfortunately, we have not had many performances in recent years, but children are educated not only by studying school subjects, but also by art. We are very glad to meet the actors, and such activities are very welcome,” Gulnara Teslari, principal of Ciobanovca Village Gymnasium in Anenii Noi District, says.
“I have really liked this show. At home, we often try to limit the time our children spend online, but we don’t really succeed in doing this. I hope that what the pupils learn due to such works of art will be more comprehensible to them and have a greater impact on them,” Irina Nichitina, a mother from Orhei Town, says.
“This theatrical fairytale made me better understand the advantages of the Internet, but also showed us the risks it can bring. We were impressed by the actors’ performance. It was so interesting that I thought I would like to become an actress in the future, so that I could make children happy,” Masa Chiriacova, the third-grade pupil at N. Tretiacov Theoretical Lyceum in Comrat, exclaims.
The PikPok.online@guguță show tour is organized within the framework of the project “Media Education and Literacy and Optimisation of Newsrooms” (MELON). This project is financially supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Moldova.
