Jaan Tätte’s new play explores old sins at Tallinn City Theatre

Tallinn City Theatre is staging “Night,” a new dark comedy by Jaan Tätte, after a 20-year break, ERR reported. The production is directed by Peeter Tammearu.

Tätte wrote the play on commission from the theatre, with its older generation of actors in mind. “It is very rewarding to play a role written with you in mind,” actor Elisabet Reinsalu said, adding that the characters written for her colleagues also felt personal.

The play was inspired by a true story from Tätte’s family. Reinsalu described it as an existential comedy typical of Tätte, with multiple layers gradually emerging.

At the centre of the story is a group of elderly people, each carrying a sin committed in youth that unexpectedly comes to light decades later. Actor Egon Nuter said the characters had been brought together as an “old people’s brigade” and were all struggling with their past.

Reinsalu said the comedy allows the audience to laugh, including at itself. “If an old person could not laugh at themselves, they could not live at all,” she quoted her mother as saying.