30th Tartu drama festival showcases Estonian theatre

The 30th Tartu Drama Festival brings a cross-section of contemporary Estonian theatre to the city, ERR reported. The programme includes 13 productions, from a punk musical and a performance staged in a passenger car to large-scale productions. The festival runs until September 13.

A medley of theatre calls in Tartu Town Hall Square marked the festival’s start on Monday. Its official opening took place at the Samelin factory, where an installation of 100 electromechanical sculptures was activated.

The installation, created by Renzo van Steenbergen and Kristjan Pütsep from old Norma tin cans, combines light and sound.

“It is a symbolic beginning to the festival. It is a theatrical play of light and sound, so that we can forget our everyday lives for a moment, come together in a dark room and experience it both physically and emotionally,” festival director Mari Nurk said.

The programme includes works by established directors as well as young debutants whom the festival’s artistic council considers to have made strong first impressions.

One of the unusual experiences is Robin Täpp’s “Drive-In”, in which audiences travel through Tartu at night in a passenger car with an artist. Another new collaboration is elekton.arti’s “Carmen Electra”, a punk musical created by graduates of the art academy, Nurk said.

The productions selected for this year’s programme are linked by socially and politically critical themes, including violence against women.

The programme includes “Prima Facie” by the Estonian Drama Theatre and Merle Karusoo’s “I Didn’t Leave Ukraine”, which features Ukrainian veterans telling their stories, Nurk said.