He wanted to refute various populist slogans that speculated on people’s emotions, so he came to the idea that young people should be told about the Soviet Union. “Now a generation that was born in independent Latvia and did not experience the Soviet era is slowly entering the labor market. But how much is there talk about parents and grandparents about those times? How much and what do they say? Do young people ask anything at all?”
Jānis Znotins himself remembers the Soviet times in a domestic context. “We lived in a village where everything was – heat and water at home – but the 90’s came with no heating. And as a child, it seemed like something terrible. “I didn’t know how dangerous it could be to make everyone the same.” The director, together with playwright Anci Muižniece, wondering what the story of the Soviet era might be, came to the conclusion that they should write it themselves. “There are no books about the real life of young people in Soviet times. Some of them have gone through censorship, with a certain dose of ideology,” J. Znotins explains. In search of historical events that could be the impetus for the story, have already watched the documentary with different eyes Is it easy to be young. “Groups Thunder concert – music and songs, a train crash, the following best trial, which did not interest anyone, but someone had to find what to convict, “reminds the director.
This event in the show is the basis for telling about life in the USSR. But that time was controversial, because people were in different situations. One of the regime had suffered repression and deportation, another was living a simple life and was satisfied, but there were also some who lived well. Putting it all together in a show, there is a story about three 17-year-olds. Andrejs, Vizma and Uģis listen to music, try to find their place in life, deal with each other, with their families and the communist regime. Their desire for independence from the beliefs and control of their parents and previous generations coincides with their great, collective, airborne desire for change and freedom. The show also reads Thunder music, with each song becoming an important part of the story.
Actors Kārlis Freimanis, Eduards Johansons, Ilze Pukinska, Skaidrīte Putniņa, Klinta Reinholde, Sandis Runge are in the roles. The scenography was created by Pamela Butāne. Upcoming performances – March 17 and 18.
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