Performances that Disappeared
Two Case Studies of Alternative Aesthetics during the Transition Period in Latvia in the late 1980s
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7146/nts.v35i1.145377Keywords:
Experimental Theatre Studio, Theatre Studio No. 8, Ilmārs Elerts, Modris Tenisons, independent theatre, transgression, transition periodAbstract
The article explores the alternative theatre and performance culture of the late 1980s in Latvia focusing on two independent companies that were established in 1987, namely The Experimental Theatre Studio led by theatre director Ilmārs Elerts and The Theatre Studio No. 8 uniting young theatre makers who refused to join the dominant state-funded repertory theatres. Both companies existed only for a few years and their activities and impact on Latvian theatre have not been properly researched until now. The article suggests negotiating the inherited strict binary division in research between professional and non-professional or semi-professional theatre, as well as official and underground culture in case of artistically innovative practices and recognizing the rhizomatic nature of Latvian theatre processes. Both companies are remarkable because of their significantly different aesthetics from the mainstream Latvian theatre of the time. They could be regarded as performative transgressions in terms of both aesthetic choices and organizational models.
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Interviews
Ingrīda Elerte 6.10.2022. Interviewed by Zane Kreicberga. The private archive of Zane Kreicberga.
Lauris Gundars 4.10.2022. Interviewed by Zane Kreicberga. The private archive of Zane Kreicberga.
Viktors Runtulis 21.4.2021. Interviewed by Zane Kreicberga. The private archive of Zane Kreicberga.
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