GaGa

On January 10, 1992, a strong storm swept one of the shipping containers from a cargo ship heading from Hong Kong to the US into the Pacific Ocean. Over 28,000 rubber ducks were set afloat. Some of them sailed as far as the shores of Hawaii and Alaska, some as far away as Australia. Others were frozen in cubes of arctic ice or dissolved in sea salt. Some found their way onto the shelves of passionate collectors. Others helped scientists discover how ocean currents work. A number of them became part of the Great Pacific floating garbage island. Some of them sail the ocean to this day.

GaGa presents this fantastic journey of migrating ducklings to the youngest viewers, introducing humanity’s impact on the environment to children in a playful way. The rubber ducks are not just castaways on the high seas, but also waste that has entered the ocean due to a cargo ship accident. Alongside them, the audience meets the natural inhabitants of the sea, as well as the plastic and other waste that threatens nature.

GaGa is a puppet show that works to nonviolently cultivate a healthy relationship with the environment for children aged three and up.

About the company

The Little Theatre
The Little Theatre has been operating in České Budějovice since 1949. Since 2004, it has been the fourth stage of the South Bohemian Theatre, alongside the drama, opera and ballet ensembles. Focused on productions for children and young audiences from secondary schools and colleges, it has its own stage in Hradební Street. The Little Theatre also creates annual summer productions for the revolving auditorium in Český Krumlov and has become famous for such projects as Kašpárek v rohlíku.

Štěpán Gajdoš, director
Štěpán studied acting at the Brno Conservatory and directing at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (DAMU). He is primarily involved in the creation of original productions. Theatre for children and young people forms a large part of his work, but he also explores the possibilities of new media and its use in performative contexts. He has collaborated with Ondřej Pšenička on the online magic show Magnolia, which spectators from all over the world can view via Zoom. He is also the director of the second episode of the 5:59 on Stage project, which brings a popular podcast to the stage. In the site-specific production Deus Ex Machina for KULT Theatre on the theme of artificial intelligence, he combined a distinctive technological solution with a theatrically unconventional church venue. He is also a filmmaker with music videos and scripts for animated series to his credit. Since October 2023, he has been director-in-residence at the Little Theatre in České Budějovice, where he created the production GaGa and an open-air production set on a steamship titled South Bohemian Odyssey in collaboration with Petr Hašek and David Košt’ák.