Thursday, May 21, 21:00
Dirty Deal Teatro, Maskavas iela 12 k-2
Duration: 1h30
In English
Based on the book ‘Lost Antarctica’ by James McClintock
Dramaturg Jānis Balodis
Director Valters Sīlis
Set design: Ieva Kauliņa
Music: Edgars Raginskis
Lights: Jānis Sniķeris
Performer Toms Liepājnieks
Producer: Dirty Deal Teatro (dirtydeal.lv/teatro)
Premiere on February 5, 2015
Few of us will ever go to Antarctica. Luckily, the imagination knows no borders, and the creative team behind “Lost Antarctica” invites us to an audiovisual journey to see Antarctica through the eyes of the marine biologist, explorer and one of the leading expers on this continent, James McClintock.
In their previous collaborations director Valters Sīlis and dramaturg Jānis Balodis have addressed the absurdity of state bureaucratic documents, consequences of the pollution of a local river and the institution of presidency in Latvia, delivering witty and very personal comment on the effects of decision-making on everyday reality in Latvia. “Lost Antarctica” is their appeal to appreciate something outside the ordinary. Here they offer a close-up and heartfelt look (helped largely by the captivating handmade imagery by Ieva Kauliņa) at the wondrous place at the bottom of the world that we are on the brink of losing.
Valters Sīlis (1985) studied stage directing at the Latvian Academy of Culture and as part of his studies spent a year at Akademia Teatralna im. Al.Zelwerowicza in Warsaw. He has since worked successfully both on small independent stages of theatre Dirty Deal teatro and big stage of the Latvian National Theatre. In 2010/ 2011 Sīlis staged three works in three different theatres that focused on painful and embarrassing events in Latvia’s recent history, showing an approach that is questioning, free of stereotyping and slightly grotesque. In 2014 Sīlis staged a production in collaboration with Teatro Sotterraneo that was premiered in Santarcangelo festival in Italy. The same year he curated a series of productions “The Glory and Shame of Schengen”, where he invited several young European artists (including Kvis Bum Bang, Julian Hetzel, Vidas Bareikas) to stage new work at the Latvian National Theatre.
Valters Sīlis has been nominated several times to Latvian Theatre award for his productions, and in 2011/2012 he received the prize of the Best Staging of Latvian Author for his performance “Legionnaires”, which he had devised together with his actors.
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