In South Kurzeme, the “2023 Show of the Year” took place in Nice and Aizpute. Dubeņi amateur theater of Grobiņa parish concluded the show with Anita Grīniece’s play “Līgošanas nerātnības” by Anita Grīniece. The regional round will be in March, and the show finals will be in April. (Photo: Agrita Maniņa)
The next round of the show was presented by the amateur theater of Nice with the production of the play “Cerību ēna” by Ines Tālmanes.
The situation is catastrophic
The portal asked the jury what are the problems of amateur theaters. Valdis Lūriņš was direct: “Can you imagine a choir led by a person who does not know sheet music? Or the leader of a dance team who never danced as a child? That would be nonsense and impossible.
Latvia’s problem is that there is a lack of professional people who would undertake to manage and direct amateur theater groups.”
According to him, you don’t even need the fingers of both hands to count how many professional people there are who work with such collectives. The situation is catastrophic.
The director believes that Latvian amateur theater is currently very enthusiastic:
“Hats off to all the people who run collectives because the pay is beyond ridiculous.
If the amateur theater is once included in the program of the Song Festival, obviously the interest of the state, maybe municipalities, some businessmen in the general fate of the Song Festival is not sufficient.”
But in some ways, the theater is in a better position than the choirs. “There is a problem with school choirs, because there are fewer and fewer of them, but there are theater groups. In any case, it’s more than amateur theater for adults,” director Juris Ločmelis thinks that the amateur theater movement will not become duller, because the new generation will enter the theater family.
Amateur theater shows are the same reference point as shows for choirs and dance groups.
The difference is that choirs and dancers are given repertoire by the authorities that organize the Song Festival, but theater managers are forced to select the repertoire themselves. What can they choose if the collectives are so different –
larger in one parish, smaller in another; in one there are more men, in the other there are almost none.
The director tries to adapt the play, but mustn’t change much in it. Freer hands for him if the playwright is no longer to be found.
V. Lūriņš compared it to a symphony orchestra, which has to play a symphony, but lacks half the musicians to play. Similar to the theater – directors are forced to find a play in which there would be actors playing the roles.
About the values of life
In itself, the fact that self-acting theater operates in the parishes should be appreciated, because the actors continue the culture and keep the village alive. But they also run the risk of being judged in the same way as professional theater actors.
Why is there a requirement for quality? “If the theater has gathered people to watch a play, it must say something important. About people, people’s destinies and the time in which they live, although today is not depicted on the stage.
What matters is the message, the content,”
explained V. Luriņš.
A great responsibility rests on the director, and a lot depends on him, said Daina Kandevic, director of the amateur theater in Nice, about the selection of performances.
“It is very important what repertoire the director chooses. Are you dealing with cheap anecdotes and wasting time, or do you still want to talk about larger events in life, values,” she said.
The play “Cerību ēna” staged by Nīceniek won the 1st place in the play competition of the National Cultural Center, so it was given the seal of quality by a professional jury.
“This play is an insight from the other side of the short story “Shadow of Death” by Rudolf Blaumanis. Author Inese Tahlmane talks about what wives do and what happens to them during the five days when husbands die on a piece of ice,” the director revealed the interesting topic.
It affects everyone to some extent, because everyone experiences a time when the life of someone close to them begins to fade away. What happens to his family on such days?
The title of the work is “In the Shadow of Hope”, so you should not give up hope until the last moment. Daina Kandevitsa cites an example of life if you have experienced that when you take the closest person to the hospital, a miracle happens and he still crawls out.
A miracle also happens in Blaumaņš’s short story, and 10 people survive. The message of the show is about not giving up.
“The other theme is that
in extreme, difficult conditions, people come together, help each other, make peace, say hurtful things and fix relationships,”
the director opened the curtain of the production of the play “In the Shadow of Hope” more.
She thanks the actresses, whose performance was highly appreciated by the jury. In the role of Emilija Zaļgas – Indra Štube; Daldu’s mother – Daira Eglīte; Maria – Aiva Mache; Anna – Ginta Pērkone (or Krista Pelnēna); Zelma – Antra Mache. The others – Ieva Lindenbaum, Anda Freidenfelde, Evita Sproģe.
“They didn’t have to act anything, because they are from the environment that the play is about. The characters of rural people, fishermen – themselves and the people around them,” Daina Kandevica mentions that the excellent cooperation with the show’s designer Aldi Kļaviņa also strengthened the show’s success.
The director and the professor felt on the same page.
Recommended to stage for children
Valdis Lūriņš admitted that the exiles made him happy. Aizpute Folk Theater staged the play “Sea Air” by Andras Niedzviejas.
“The most important direction of any self-activating group is to loosen people, make them freer, more curious – I observed that,”
he shared his impressions.
“In this collective, everything was not completely done in such a way that we put it forward for the next round of the show, but it was about people, and that’s very important.”
The director of Aizpute, Igors Māters, had emphasized that he was making the show together with the team, trying to understand the people portrayed.
Performance evaluator Juri Lochmeli was fascinated by the audience with the play “Winnie the Pooh and his Friends” by Alan Alexander Milne.
“Children’s performances are recommended for amateur theaters, it is worth working in this direction. Actors have a different vision, because it is not the lives of fellow human beings that they play. And the children’s audience is the nicest, it perfectly makes you feel what works, what doesn’t, what is referred to, what is not.”
For reference
Participants of “Amateur Theater Shows 2023” in South Kurzeme
- Rucava amateur theater, director Dace Solovyova;
- Durbes amateur theater “Dīvatrons”, director Inese Ceriņa;
- Nice amateur theater, director Daina Kandevic;
- Vērgale amateur theater, director Inese Ceriņa;
- Liege amateur theater, director Dace Liepa;
- Aizpute Folk Theater, director Igors Māters;
- Kalvenes amateur theater, director Daiga Freimane;
- Aizpute High School amateur theater, director Juta Priedniece;
- Dubeņi amateur theater of Grobiņa parish, director Sabīne Gilma Ulmane.
Contribution of the media support fund from Latvian state budget funds. The portal liepajniekiem.lv is responsible for the prepared content.
2023-12-19 04:14:43
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