Theatre students question funding system at Draama festival

Students of theatre studies at the University of Tartu have shared their thoughts on the Draama festival, which began this week, ERR reported. Their fifth festival diary entry discusses the Estonian Theatre Conference and the productions Enigma, Prima facie and Three Ballads, a Story and My Mother’s Estate.

The festival’s fifth day was filled with discussions and productions ranging widely in style. The Estonian Theatre Conference opened the day, marking the 35th anniversary of the Union of Estonian Performing Arts Institutions. The students considered the first and final presentations the most substantive.

Harri Alamaa gave an overview of a theatre map compiled by the Theatre Futures think tank. The main problems identified were a flawed system and a lack of breathing room and long term perspective. The students said that, alongside the substantive discussion, the intervening presentations were rambling and repetitive.

They said that constant discussion of funding without action was becoming ridiculous and was discouraging young people from working in the field. They also compared culture with nature, saying that both increasingly require care and appreciation and that both are essential to people.

The existing system, the students said, needs to be taken apart like a machine, with its parts assessed before being put back together. At the same time, they cautioned against changing things that already work. Creative work remains largely invisible, while stability is needed at both institutional and individual levels.

Although theatre should keep pace with changes in society and its values, the students said its nature as a collective art must not be forgotten. Leaving self centredness behind could be a strength for culture, they said.

Elle Viese’s Enigma felt like a dream, drawing the audience in almost magically before ending unnoticed. The students described performers Maryn Liis Rüütelmaa and Edgar Vunš as magicians, saying that only tall cone hats and magic wands were missing. A butterfly that entered the hall briefly brought the number of dancers on stage to three.

The rules of the game and the key words were established at the beginning, while the rest was left for each viewer to observe and interpret. During a discussion on Thursday, Viese said that if everything were completely clear and understandable, it would represent a failure for the creators and performers.

The students said this was also the shared quality and attraction of riddles and theatre: they do not always need to be understood completely. The simplicity of the harmonica and other sounds was charming and created a comforting feeling, like watching a familiar childhood animated film again after many years.

They described the performers’ body language as captivating, flowing and poetic. Although it was sometimes difficult to divide their attention between the two dancers, the performers seemed to return by magic to movements that were remarkably synchronised despite the silence in the hall.

Estonian Drama Theatre’s Prima facie was the first production of the festival week to provoke mixed feelings. One student was deeply moved and in tears by the end, while the others felt that the production sometimes descended into a repetitive lecture that forced obvious points upon the audience. They agreed, however, that the use of screens was largely careless and came across as banal.