Saaremäe says understanding younger generation means entering their world
Tuesday 15th September 2026 on 14:30 in
Estonia
Üllar Saaremäe told ERR’s Vikerraadio that understanding the younger generation may require parents to accept their children’s rules and step into their world.
He was discussing the production “Tundekasvatus”, directed by Jaanus Rohumaa at Nuutrum, a small theatre. The production uses material from different creative periods and poetry collections by poet Tõnis Vilu, as well as themes from the past five years and the creators’ own perspectives.
Saaremäe said the relationship between a father and son plays a sensitive role in the scenes. He described the production as a poem translated into the language of theatre, in which the audience must engage with the text, ideas and theatrical imagery.
Rohumaa said the play is not an autobiographical work by Vilu. Dramaturge Roos Parmas wrote the theatre text based on Vilu’s material. Rohumaa said nearly 100 new poetry books by both established and young authors are published in Estonia each year.
“It is a love story, but also a young man’s journey from point A to point B and a very strong story of self-discovery,” Rohumaa said. He added that people often try to escape when things start going wrong, but some problems cannot be outrun.
According to Saaremäe, the older generation may not understand the situation in which the younger generation finds itself. In the production, the father gradually moves from incomprehension towards a world of mental confusion or mental health problems that is entirely unfamiliar to him, eventually accepting its rules and entering it. Saaremäe said he hoped the production would have a positive and sunny ending.
Karl Robert Saaremäe said younger people should not always immediately oppose or seek to fight the older generation, but should use it as support while finding their own strength. Rohumaa added that younger people are more honest and open than his generation, which kept more things inside.
Rohumaa said he would not recommend that people in his generation rely on alcohol to cope, because its losses had been considerable.