Estonian Drama Theatre stages Zeller’s crime story The Forest

Estonian Drama Theatre is bringing French playwright Florian Zeller’s The Forest to the stage as a crime story about an ordinary family’s extraordinary day, ERR reported. Director Hendrik Toompere senior describes it as a journey filled with magic.

Toompere, who also designed the lighting, said the play explores parallel realities and turns the characters’ inner worlds inside out. He said the director’s challenge was to identify the specific event that sets the story in motion: a starting point for a chain of lies that may or may not lead to several crimes.

“Everything is very dreamlike and at the same time very realistic,” Toompere said. Once the production team found the initiating event, he said, “the path began to branch out of the forest.”

Cast members Kersti Heinloo and Gert Raudsep said the story leaves questions for the audience to resolve. Heinloo, who plays the protagonist’s wife, said viewers must decide whether events are real or imagined, or reflect a longing for new energy and a new relationship. Raudsep said the play offers many clues for audiences to piece together.

Margus Alver translated the play. Elisa Sinisalu designed the set, Aleksandra Koel Tsupsman created the sound design, and Helin-Mari Arder was the vocal coach. Performances will take place in the Estonian Drama Theatre’s small hall.