The “Bradonja” doll has returned home after 70 years

By sheer luck and the kindness of the family of our deceased longtime former actor Edo Ljubović, we came into possession of a doll from the first play of the Puppet Theater in Mostar, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, which premiered on November 15, 1952, exactly seventy-one years ago.

This is Bradonja (A Man with a Beard), the elder of the dwarfs, who was then created and made by the first scenographer Vesela Raslić, and animated and voiced by the first professional actor of the Puppet Theatre, Branko Hinković.

Thanks to the kindness and knowledge of the old puppet expert, former actor, director and director of our house, Muhamed Hamica Nametak, today, in our newly built workshop, we changed the old, tangled and broken threads and enabled our Bradonja to “walk again”. Also, this doll’s original costume has been cleaned and now it can once again delight the lovers of puppetry with its beauty of craftsmanship and the meticulousness of every detail.

In the coming days, this doll, which bears witness to the long-standing tradition of our Theatre, will be exhibited in our newly opened Doll Museum, in the yard of our house. As proof and confirmation of our existence and work, for over 70 years, in the house of dreams in Brankovac, Mostar.