New actor Erik Hermaküla is heading to Estonian Theatre for Young Audiences

Actor Erik Hermaküla, who graduated from the 32nd class of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre’s school of drama this year, will join Estonian Theatre for Young Audiences. In an interview published by ERR, he discusses his first major theatre experience, his ambitions and what he seeks on stage.

Hermaküla says he is a believer in Christ, comes from Hiiu Stadium in Nõmme and is heading to Estonian Theatre for Young Audiences.

His first major theatre experience was Rakvere Theatre’s production of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, which he saw with his father when he was 13. He said the performance left him confused about why the main character had to die and what was wrong with the nurse. When he asked his father, the questions remained unanswered, leading him to realise that his father did not know everything.

Had he not been admitted to the school of drama, Hermaküla says he would have become an athlete. He jokes that a naturally high VO2 max, a banal desire always to win and thin bones would have made him an average runner and, with a small amount of doping, an average skier.

Among his favourite actors are Ursel Tilk, Kaie Mihkelson, Hele Kõrve and Aaron Paul.

Asked what he misses in Estonian theatre, Hermaküla jokingly says he would ban actors from appearing in more than two productions a year if he became the country’s dictator. He would prefer longer rehearsal periods and results that would leave audiences in a state of delirium.

He says Abraham would be the most difficult character for him to play. Other dream roles include David, Prince Myshkin and Kierkegaard.

For Hermaküla, theatre is difficult to explain in a single sentence. He describes it instead as something that needs a place, people and preparation before an audience can understand what it is.

What he seeks most from theatre is tension. He wants audiences to grip their seats, breathe only once a minute and avoid blinking so they do not miss anything. On stage, he looks for a strange tickling sensation in his stomach.

He says life without theatre is absolutely impossible, calling theatre a foundation of civilisation. In his view, theatre existed before fire and before dinosaurs.

His recommendations are Martin Scorsese’s film “Silence”, the New Testament and the production “I Did Not Even Notice When You Left”.

In his final choices, Hermaküla picks film over theatre, the last row over the first, spoken theatre over contemporary performance art, small-room theatre over a large hall, and Shakespeare over Beckett.