Karusoo explores Estonia’s theatre makers’ Ingrian roots

Director Merle Karusoo’s new production explores the family histories of Estonian theatre professionals with Ingrian Finnish roots, while the process led her to conclude that more Ingrians may live in Estonia than previously thought, ERR reported.

The production, “When roots are cut…”, is the latest instalment in Karusoo’s “Who am I?” project, which examines difficult choices made during the Second World War and the Soviet era and connects them to present-day Estonia.

Through the stories of theatre-makers’ families, the production examines how national identity has changed across generations, what people have had to preserve or hide, and how ancestry shapes a person’s identity. It also asks what it means to belong to a small nation and how people can preserve their distinctiveness as the boundaries between cultures and nationalities become less defined.

The cast includes actors, colleagues and students of Karusoo who are connected to Ingria, a region in what is now northwestern Russia. The performers researched their own family histories and ancestry, asking parents and grandparents questions that had not previously been discussed.

“This story began with Aare Toikka,” Karusoo said. She said Toikka had repeatedly suggested creating a production about Ingrians for the “Who am I?” project, before Märt Meos brought the participants together.

The production features Elmo Nüganen, Saara Nüganen, Aare Toikka, Ester Kuntu, Ringo Ramul, Laine Mägi, Jaan Tristan Kolberg, Aleksander Kuchmezov Iganus and Uku Suislep.

“When roots are cut…” is divided into two parts. The first describes how Ingrians lived in the area long before it came under tsarist rule. During the Great Northern War, the region came under the authority of the tsar, after which the Ingrian population was dispersed and destroyed, while Russians were settled there to build the city of St Petersburg. The production also recounts the dispersal, resettlement, killings and deportations carried out on national grounds during the 20th century.

The second part presents the personal tragedies of actors living in Estonia who have Ingrian roots.

Karusoo said the history of what happened to Ingrian Finns also carries the fear that a similar fate could have befallen Estonians. That may be one reason people keep this history somewhat distant from themselves, she said, adding that awareness of one’s roots clearly influences one’s self-image.

Toikka is the only member of the group with Ingrian Finnish ancestry on both sides of his family. Karusoo said the others have Estonian grandparents or parents and have been able to assimilate into Estonian culture through their Estonian forebears, while Toikka’s parents and grandparents pushed him towards Estonian culture as a means of survival.

Karusoo said it was difficult to know how many people had carried a sense of being outsiders or feared being regarded as foreign. She added that stories about shame among earlier generations, including shame over belonging to a stigmatised group, recur throughout the production.