Nine people who don’t know each other have to make a decision about the Song Festival. “Different opinions are expressed, which surprises and shocks, but if we think about it, yes, I even know people who think the tradition of the Song Festival is superfluous. It is necessary to realize how different we are,” says the director.
Historically, the Song Festival has helped to agree on a common position against something that seems absurd, unfair, wrong, says R. Bugavičute-Pēce. “I agree with Intas Teterovskis, who said in the interview that it is more difficult now, because the Song Festival of this time should not be AGAINST something, but FOR something.
So, well, our show is ABOUT the voices that make up the collective chorus in which we spend our daily lives, regardless of whether we sing,” she says.
However, the creators of the show did not want to remain only in enthusiastic shouts about how sacred the Song Festival is for us. “It seemed more interesting to prove to ourselves – yes, the existence of such a holiday in the core of our nation somehow defines us, regardless of whether we are participants in the holiday, or whether we understand it and want it at all,” says the playwright.
Most of the process of planning and breaking down the play is done before rehearsals begin. “Matīsa and I tried for a long time to understand what kind of performance we want to see and feel, what we want to say to ourselves and others. Of course, the rehearsal process introduced its own corrections, crystallizing the themes in which we had to invest more, as well as injecting some joke between the actors into the material,” says Rasa.
“For that, I am happy and grateful that such working conditions were created. It doesn’t always happen that the ensemble connects so well on the ideological level,” notes M. Budovskis.
He is known to the people of Liepāja as the assistant of Elmāras Senkovs in the plays “Shakespeare” and “Grimmi”, for which he also created the dramatization. “Elmar was my teacher, I probably do in a similar way. I carry with me a huge part of what Elmar has taught me,” admits the young director.
The name of the show does not mean that we watch it before the Song Festival and then forget about it. “The topic is very relevant.
In peaceful conditions, we can argue and be hostile, but right now we feel a greater need to live together and understand others in order to make our society better.
We do not point to one correct option, we do not exalt the one who thinks differently. The answer is not given as it should be, the audience will have to think along. In the last monologue, the thought comes out – how should I sound? It’s about how each of us should sound, so that we create a harmonious environment around us,” says M. Budovskis.
Actors Anda Albuže, Kaspars Gods, Rolands Beķeris, Sandis Pēcis, Agnese Jēkabsone, Everita Pjata-Gertner, Kaspars Kārklinņš, Anete Berķe and Gatis Maliks take part in the show. Scenographer and costume designer Paulīne Kalniņa, lighting designer Niks Tsipruss.
The premiere in the small hall of the Liepāja theater in the “Lielais dzintars” concert hall – on January 13.
