Thursday, May 21, 19:00
The New Riga Theatre, Lāčplēša iela 25
Duration: 3h10
In Latvian with English translation
Author Mikhail Kuzmin
Director Vladislavs Nastavševs
Set design and costumes: Monika Pormale
Music: Vladislavs Nastavševs
Performers: Vilis Daudziņš, Mārtiņš Upenieks, Kaspars Znotiņš, Sandra Kļaviņa, Maija Apine, Baiba Broka, Andris Keišs, Ģirts Krūmiņš, Iveta Pole, Edgars Samītis
Producer: The New Riga Theatre (www.jrt.lv)
Premiere on January 29, 2014
The novel ‘Travellers by Sea and Land’ is written by poet, novelist, composer, critic and translator Mikhail Kuzmin who belongs to the Silver age of Russian poetry. The novel pictures bohemian life of the capital city of Russian Empire at the beginning of the 20th century, the time between two revolutions. Kuzmin himself was one of the most extravagant figures at the artist salons of St Petersburg. ‘Travellers by Sea and Land’ is a visually stunning collection of portrayals of bohemian legends from the time which was filled with melancholia, grotesque and decadent touch.
Vladislavs Nastavševs’ (1978) directorial début on Latvian stage in 2010 marked a new relationship between the linguistic and visual forms of the performance. This tension became the dominant force in his work and challenged the tradition of Latvian scenography. It seems that director, stage designer and musician inhabiting Nastavševs, compete with each other for leadership in his work. Fortunately, in the end, the winner turns out to be each one of them. Nastavševs takes great care of the production as an integrated art work where the space is shared equally by performers, set, objects, sound and light. By minimal yet effective means the director turns empty, unaltered stages into imaginary rooms, where all relative constraints have to fall. Nastavševs brings carefully selected, meticulous, radically laconic aesthetics back to the performance, whether it is a tea-pot suddenly spouting sand or an old-fashioned spotlight, which elevates the realistic performances of actors into visual metaphors. The impact of these metaphors is virtually universal. Nobody is beyond their effect, even if the audience is unaware of the influence or resents it.
Since 2010 Nastavševs has worked in Riga, Tallinn, St. Petersburg and Moscow and has staged plays by the great classic playwrights like Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, August Strindberg, Russian writers Daniil Kharms, Mikhail Kuzmin, Yevgeni Kharitonov, Fyodor Dostoevsky, as well as contemporary authors. In most of his productions Nastavshev is also the author of the set and costumes, sound and light design. Last season his performance “Travellers by sea and land” at the New Riga Theatre received the annual Latvian theatre award for the best large stage production.
Nastavševs has studied acting at the Academy of Theatre Arts, Saint Petersburg and directing at Central Saint Martins College of Arts & Design in London. He has worked at Dirty Deal Teatro, Valmiera Theatre, National Theatre, New Riga Theatre (Latvia), Teater NO99 (Estonia), Gogol Center (Russia).
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