Taavi Tõnisson explores literary letters at Pärnu festival

Actor and director Taavi Tõnisson is presenting the story of two women through their letters at the Pärnu Literature Festival, ERR reported. He told Vikerraadio that people’s stories, his own family history and relationships between people have long interested him through the written word.

Tõnisson was invited to take part in the festival’s traditional Night Hour, which introduces writers connected with Pärnu. This year’s programme focuses on Siuts and Ingi, two women who were friends, studied together and came from Narva. One was the wife of Johannes Vares Barbarus and the other was Visnapuu’s wife.

Actors Alice Siil and Maria Ehrenberg will portray the women in a performance in the courtyard of the Barbarus house. They will read texts by Barbarus and Visnapuu, as well as the women’s letters to their husbands.

“It was interesting to immerse myself in the archives and read someone’s letters. It was also slightly embarrassing and anxiety-inducing to read another person’s private letters to her husband, but they are held in collections and are publicly available,” Tõnisson said.

He said the archive material was so extensive that about half of it had to be left out because of the festival’s time and length restrictions.

“People’s stories have always fascinated me. My own family and family history, and relationships between people through the written word. This is also very strongly connected to the historical context in which we live,” Tõnisson said.

Katrin Tõnisson, the programme manager at the Children’s Literature Centre, is organising activities in the festival’s children’s programme. Authors Tuulike Kivestu, Piret Jaaks and Tiiu Kitsik will take part in discussions, while Tõnisson will read fairy tales to children at the end of the day.

Katrin Tõnisson said children should be introduced to books from birth. In her family, the amount of time children can spend using a tablet depends on how much they have read.