Siim Tõniste brings nostalgia-focused Tivoli to Kanuti Gildi SAAL

Siim Tõniste’s new production Tivoli will premiere on September 23 at Kanuti Gildi SAAL, a theatre venue, ERR reported. The production explores nostalgia and how people cope with a changing world.

Tõniste will perform alongside drag artist Marla Burroughs, Latvian director and actor Reinis Boters, and performance artist Üüve-Lydia Toompere.

The audience will be involved in the course of the performance. Tivoli examines nostalgia both as a sweet feeling of remembrance and as a longing for the past that can take on ideological dimensions.

“Approached with moderation, nostalgia can offer answers about oneself, but taken too far, it cuts people off from the world,” Tõniste said.

The production presents a familiar world that encourages nostalgic recognition, while also placing the audience among a wealth of new choices. Tõniste said that people often prefer decisions based on what is already familiar, even though this does not necessarily lead to more considered choices.

“When we remember old stories together, it is pleasant. It is often surprising how many shared experiences, events and funny incidents our stories contain,” Tõniste said. He added that seemingly insignificant events create collective patterns that society repeats.

Tivoli is Tõniste’s fourth production at Kanuti Gildi SAAL. His earlier works there were Plaan T, which premiered in 2018 with Toompere and Piret Jaaks, Supersocial in 2020, and Kas sa etendad iseennast? in 2022, also in collaboration with Toompere.

Tõniste’s productions have also received international recognition. Together with Toompere, he won a residency award at the Fast Forward European Festival for Young Directors in Dresden.

Rehearsals for Tivoli have taken place in residencies in Malta and Italy as part of the POLIS Teatro Festival, in addition to Tallinn.