NEW THEATRE INSTITUTE OF LATVIA

contemporary performing arts in Latvia and abroad

In the first days of November, during the Baltic Drama Forum, a bookazine “Contemporary Latvian Theatre. A Decade Bookazine” was published by the Latvian Theatre Union (LTU) in cooperation with the publishing house “Zinātne”. The bookazine aims to show different facets of theatre processes in Latvia between 2010 and 2020 serving as an exhaustive source of information about the past decade in Latvian theatre.

The bookazine is available in digital format free of charge HERE, while in print it will also be available in the library of the Latvian New Theatre Institute.

The editor and author of bookazine’s concept is theatre scientist and critic Lauma Mellēna-Bartkeviča, and the publication has been reviewed by respectable theatre scientists from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Professor Valda Čakare of the Latvian Academy of Culture, theatre scientists Guna Zeltiņa and Ieva Rodiņa worked in the editorial board together with the editor.

The target audience of the bookazine is mainly foreign theatre researchers, critics, producers and others involved in the theatre process. The “Contemporary Latvian Theatre. A Decade Bookazine” consists of 13 publications and two appendices. The authors of the articles are both theatre critics and teachers, and practitioners – Zane Radzobe, Valda Čakare, Ieva Rodiņa, Vēsma Lēvalde, Līga Ulberte, Zane Kreicberga, Laine Kristberga, dance critic Inta Balode, director Krista Burāne, playwright Jānis Balodis. As well as colleagues from neighbouring countries – theatre researcher Edgaras Klivis from Lithuania and critic Meelis Oidsalu from Estonia.

The articles cover such topics as socio-political processes in performing arts, changes in the understanding of theatre space, digimodernism, newcomers to Latvian theatre, education, performance genre, contemporary choreography in relations with theatre, development of the festival “Homo Novus” in the light of Krista Burāne’s artwork, comparisson between tradition of stagging classical plays in Latvia and Lithuania, the multifunctionality of contemporary theatre in society and many more. The reader has the opportunity to visit creative laboratory of dramaturg Jānis Balodis and find out what seven Latvian directors think about theatre in the age of changing rules – Elmārs Seņkovs, Regnārs Vaivars, Inga Tropa, Vladislavs Nastavševs, Klāvs Mellis and Alvis Hermanis. The collection concludes with basic information about professional theatres, companies and major festivals operating in Latvia in 2020.

The articles have been translated into English by Inta Ivanovska and Laine Kristberga, the text has been edited by Amanda Zaeska, and the artist of the bookazine is Ieva Upmace.

The bookazine “Contemporary Latvian Theatre. A Decade Bookazine” has been created with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of Latvia, the Latvian State Centennial Bureau and the State Culture Capital Foundation.

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