What is Rezekne’s “Joriks”? / Script

The name “Joriks” is given to the theater in honor of the image from Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet”. While in the cemetery, Hamlet picks up a skull and says, “Oh, poor Jorik!” – discovering that this head once belonged to the court of the royal court.

Mikhailov ran this theater for 26 years, until 2016 he was replaced by Ilya Bocharnikov, a student of the Jorika Children’s and Youth Studio and a graduate of the Moscow Daile Theater School, who raised the theater to a professional level. On his initiative, a new, professional Latvian theater troupe was formed in Jorika, but guest directors such as Toms Treinis, Mārtiņš Eihe, Inga Tropa, Georgijs Surkovs, Paula Pļavniece and others went to Rēzekne to perform. This season, “Jorika” was nominated for the “Players’ Night” award for the first time. It was “Shaking Tent” directed by Inga Tropa, which was nominated in the “Show for Children and Adolescents of the Year” category.

During the 2020 season, 111 performances were performed at the Joriks Theater. During this time, the theater was taken over by director Mārtiņš Eihe, whose open-air performance “My Neighbor’s Jew” also received Jorika’s first “Players’ Night” award – one of the 12 nails of the stage.

The performance, which took place in the quarter of the Rezekne Green Synagogue, told about the life of Jews in different eras and countries in the territory of Latgale. At the beginning of June, this performance could also be seen at the new theater festival “Theater Festival No. 1” taking place in Ventspils.

“Jorika” features works by both Russian and Western European classics, as well as original works, including performances for children and young people, comedies, dramas and musical performances. Director Mārtiņš Eihe has now become the director of the Latvian Puppet Theater, and the question – who will be the next head of Jorika? – still in fog. A children’s and youth theater studio is currently operating under the auspices of Jorika.

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