At first the grandmothers and mothers clapped their hands, then the grandfathers and fathers tapped their feet. Then they joined forces and a great noise arose in the hall. It looked like everyone went crazy! But in fact everyone enjoyed and supported the Purim Spiel, and when artists involved the audience, the latter gave their all.


To help children understand the story of how a spiteful Persian king Haman wanted to destroy the Jewish people, and how a beautiful Jewess queen Esther, with the aid of her wise uncle Mordechai saved them, the director Igor Gorshkov combined this story with the 'Treasure Island' for the stage production. The island is inhabited by an old pirate (played by Yura Stepanov) and his true friend, the parrot (played by Artem Rzhevsky). The island is then visited by a malicious pair of treasure hunting pirates (Nikita Polishiuk and Nastia Trohimchuk). While the pirates are seeking their treasure, they fight and make peace, argue and sing songs together. They also meet extra-terrestrial guests (Nastia Ezhova and Masha Arepyeva), Mgama Mguma the cannibal from Yum-Yum tribe (Zhenia Chugaynova). The story gathers tension until there is only one question on the audience's mind: what treasures are there in the chest?

The old pirate asks the audience, "Guess what the treasure is?" and receives plentiful replies from the audience, "Gold, diamonds, precious stones!" Finally the right answer finally comes from young Sofia Timchenko, "Holy Grail," for which she receives a prize.

The next question, "What is the Holy Grail?" continues the game. Later, the treasures are revealed: Torah, Kippah and the stone Tables of the Covenant, the luhot habrit, which were given to Moshe by the Almighty. The main theme of the story also reveals itself about how the Jews used the genocidal act Decree, issued by the King, to catch Haman in the trap prepared for them. The God's will and truth had defeats the evil. The audience, in their excitement, made more noise with loud rattles and even louder applause and "Bravo!" exclamations.

All the participants were great during their performances and songs.

Isaak Dvorkin, Anna Naumova