The Tour of the “Guguta” Municipal Puppet Theater in Comrat: “The Internet Is a Good Thing, but Avoiding Harm Depends on the Way You Use It”

About 220 preschoolers and primary school pupils from the Suleyman Demirel Kindergarten Gymnasium and N. Tretiacov Theoretical Lyceum from Comrat Town watched the PikPok.online@guguta show from the repertoire of the “Guguta” Municipal Puppet Theater on October 2. The theatrical performance is part of a project implemented in partnership with the Independent Journalism Center.“The Internet is everywhere. To a greater or lesser extent, every one of us has access to the online environment. From today’s story, you will learn about the unlimited possibilities we enjoy in this informational space, and also about the challenges we can encounter there”, Gabriela Lungu, director of the “Guguta” Theater, mentioned in her welcoming speech. In addition, she told the kids that, in spite of the fact that the performance was relatively new in the theater’s repertoire and is among the few plays performed in Russian, it is quite popular among the audience exactly for the reason that it is up-to-date and answers some questions children usually ask about information. “Lots of kids discover another aspect of the Internet, they learn about certain dangers, but also about the ways of avoiding them, finding solutions not to become victims of the online environment,” the director of the theater added.  

In their turn, the children told us that they enjoyed watching the show, and they were looking forward to meeting the actors and the protagonists from the fairytale.

Dima Dimitroglo, the 3^rd grade pupil, told us he enjoyed the performance. “What I like the most is that the wolf learns his lesson: one shouldn’t be telling lies online. He wanted to become the most popular one, but he decided to lie in order to reach that goal. He shouldn’t have done that. I’m glad he understands he was wrong and is eager to apologize to those he offended.”

“I liked that the wolf is ingenious enough to get as many views as possible. But that’s not the most important thing in life. You should have good manners online and offline,” Alina Budac, the 4^th grade pupil, told us.

“We’d like to thank you for visiting us. It was a lesson of healthy relationships online, the rules to follow, and behaving with friends you have offline and online. We frequently discuss these issues at school, and I hope it will be more convincing for them after watching the show”, Nadejda Uzun, primary school teacher, deputy director in charge of education at Suleyman Demirel Gymnasium, told us.

“Judging from the children’s reactions, I see they understand the message of the performance. The wolf became a star with hundreds and thousands of subscribers/virtual friends, but he doesn’t have any friends in his real life. Finally, he admits he was wrong and asks for forgiveness from his true friends from the forest. The children applauded and had a good time. We would be eager to watch more educational shows like this one. Kids should be careful who they communicate with and who they make friends with online,” Natalia Jelezova, nursery school teacher at Suleyman Demirel Kindergarten, told us.

The theater team visited N. Tretiacov Theoretical Lyceum in Comrat Town at noon, when the pupils who study in the morning had completed their lessons, and those from the second shift were just getting ready to start their school day. All of them were eager to take their seats in the hall where the show would be played, and the pupils from the three 3^rd grades were the luckiest ones: they were the target audience for the PikPok.online@guguta show.

“Today, we’ve brought an educational fairytale about the forest animals who use the Internet. The action takes place on an online platform known as PikPok. And I’m curious: how many of you know about TikTok?” Gabriela Lungu, actress and theater director, provocatively asked the kids at the beginning of the play.

Many hands were raised in the hall: it was a sign that what was about to happen onstage resonated with the audience. And it was true. Later, it was obvious that the children found the show captivating.

“This theater fairytale makes me understand the benefits of the Internet even better, and also shows the risks it can bring. I’m impressed by what I’ve seen: the acting, the songs, and the dancing of the protagonists. It is so interesting that I would like to become an actress when I grow up, so that I could also bring joy to kids,” Masa Chiriacova, the 3^rd grade pupil, told us.

“The Internet is a good thing, but avoiding harm depends on the way you use it. The wolf realizes he was wrong, and his behavior teaches us to be good, kind, and honest,” Lera Vlah, her colleague, adds.

PikPok.online@guguta is an adaptation of the educational fairytale titled “A Click of Fangs or the Manipulative Wolf” written by media researcher Solvita Denisa Liepniece from Latvia. The show lasts for 45 minutes and is included in the repertoire of the “Guguta” Theater both in Russian and Romanian. In partnership with the Independent Journalism Center, the “Guguta” Theater launched the  Romanian version of the PikPok.online@guguță show in November 2022, and the Russian one in February 2023.

The show is an educational and entertaining story intended for kindergarten children and primary school pupils. The play helps the little ones comprehend how the online environment functions and encourages them to analyze what they see or hear, especially on social media.

The PikPok.online@guguta 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.