Kuressaare Theatre stages Jaan Tätte’s four-billion-euro game

ERR’s Pille-Riin Purje reviews Kuressaare Theatre’s production of Jaan Tätte’s “Crossing the Main Road, or The Tale of the Golden Fish”, praising its colourful characters, playful situations and varied surprises.

The production is directed by Sander Pukk, with set design by Jaanus Laagriküll, music by Ardo Ran Varres, lighting by Tarmo Matt and stage combat arranged by Indrek Saar. The cast includes Saar, Triin Brigitta Heidov, Markus Habakukk, Tanel Ting and Silver Õun.

The play premiered at Kuressaare Theatre’s venue on July 30. It was staged as a summer production from July 30 to August 8, and Purje watched both the opening and closing performances, observing the development of the roles, the refinement of details and the cast’s growing enjoyment of the material. Tätte also attended the final performance.

Purje writes that Pukk’s production could easily remain in the repertoire throughout the year, although it is expected to return next summer.

Tätte, an actor who became a playwright, knows how to create colourful characters, construct playful situations and deliver changing surprises. The central figure in “Crossing the Main Road” is Osvald, a man with an inner secret. He is played by Saar, who does not appear on stage especially often, making his new role at the theatre on his home island particularly welcome.

Osvald Koger appears to be a single character, but several people or personalities seem to exist within him, emerging alternately or even at the same time. Saar’s performance brings out these shifts especially clearly. At first, Osvald may seem like a soft-voiced eccentric trapped in his dream and convinced that it will come true. Yet the oddly coiffed little man also reveals himself as a capable manipulator and, when necessary, a skilled and eloquent demagogue. Naivety and insight coexist in him.

The play’s first production was directed by Andres Noormets at Endla Theatre and premiered on February 27, 1998. Tätte’s own production opened at Tallinn City Theatre on September 19 that year and was performed 130 times over four years. Tõnu Oja received the annual award for best male lead for his portrayal of Osvald.

Twenty-eight years ago, “Crossing the Main Road” was a major theatre event and marked the beginning of the play’s success. Tätte’s motto for the work, “I wrote this for the money”, remains cleverly open to several interpretations. The play is thematically related to Mehis Pihla’s “Moneyland”, while Tätte’s later play “The Madman”, written in 2005, also explores variations on the theme of money.

Both plays have recently returned to the stage. Gerda Kordemets directed “Crossing the Main Road” at Jäneda in 2024, while Margus Kasterpalu directed “The Madman” at Saueaugu in 2023.

Laagriküll has created a disordered country home filled with assorted clutter, which is used inventively in the performance. The first scene unfolds in dim light, and it takes time before a 100-watt bulb on the ceiling comes on. The wooden walls of the back rooms add a more unreal dimension, eventually beginning to glow from within.