Bitef

91

SONJA

LOVE LETTER Sonja is an impressionistic miniature about a lonely woman, whose fate has played a mean trick on her, which at the same time has become the biggest happiness of her life. Sonja is a little dense, a little ugly, a little lonely. But she does have some talents: she is an excellent cook and seamstress, and is great at getting on people's nerves. Then one day she receives a love letter, passionate and serious, and Sonja 's heart is aflame. Little does she realize that the letter was written by the evil friend Ada. The letter changes Sonja's life for ever. The space and authenticity of the environment plays a big role in this staging, and it is achieved by using real things and antiques. It is very significant as the world of things and belongings tells most about a human being. The character created by T. Tolstaya combines huge contrasts: ugly appearance and very sensitive Inner world, hard life and delicate sole. I have entrusted a male actor to reveal these opposite poles. It is not an aim in itself- to turn into a woman. This is more the issue of understanding a woman. We are not playing a woman, we are trying to create a female Image, character and tell about her soul. I doubt whether a soul can have a gender. Alvis Hermanis ALVIS HERMANIS (Born in 1 965) - educated as an actor at the Theatre department of Latvian State Conservatoire. In his performances A.Hermanis often plays with different concepts of post-modern aesthetics, signs, images and symbols of the Eastern and Western cultures. His performances are very different aesthetically, but all of them are characterised by perfect sense of form, stile and epoch. His theatre is a quest for new experience and new limits of reality, involving audio and visual arts - using video projections, slides and phonograms. He has also been the playwright, stage designer and an actor in his own productions. His productions have participated in international theatre festivals in Great Britain, Poland, Russia, Estonia, Lithuania, Austria, Slovakia, Finland, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Serbia, the USA and other countries. At Salzburger Festspiele 2003 A.Hermanis received Young Directors Project Award (Max Reinhardt's pen). Europe Theatre Prize for the New Theatre Reality, Thessaloniki, Greece Since 1997 artistic director of New Riga Theatre. Parallel to his work at the New Riga Theatre A. Hermanis has staged plays in l'on Krahli Teatter Tallinn, Estonia (Salajasedplldld 11, Loomav Pimedus, 1994), at the Latvian National Opera [Fire and Night, 1996), Schauspielfrankfurt (Kollektives Lesen eines Buches mit Hilfe der Imagination in Frankfurt, 2005), Schauspielhaus Zürich (The Blazing Darkness, by A. Buero - Vallejo, 2006; Fathers, 2007; Idiot. The Beginning of the Novel, by Dostoevsky 2008) Schauspielhaus Köln (Cologne Affairs, 2008).

There was a person and there Isn't a person any more. Only the name has remained -Sonja... Tatyana Tolstaya

The performance Long Life directed by Alvis Hermanis and produced by The New Riga Theatre, Riga, Letonia, took part in 39 Bitef 05. For this performance Hermanis was awarded Gran Prix MiraTrailovic. It was performed in the Centre for Cultural Decontamination.

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