“The question of the purity of love is something that concerns me a lot nowadays,” says director Inese Mičule. Through the filter of Italy’s modern “golden youth” and the Sicilian mafia, through the crowds of tourists in the courtyard of Juliet’s house in Verona, the director and her team will search for the clear voice of love, untainted by the crowds and everyday life. “This myth still begs the question of how the young people of two hostile families were so strong in their love to resist the world order,” says the director.
Shakespeareans and anti-Shakespeareans tirelessly cultivate foliants of proof – who really wrote the immortal works of William Shakespeare? But the plays, regardless of authorship, take on a life of their own and challenge new interpretations. Valmiera Theatre is convinced that every generation needs its own Juliet and Romeo. West Side Story for today’s youth, Vija Artmane and Eduards Pāvuls pressing cheeks together in a romantic photo with frilly edges, and even Baz Luhrmann’s film lovers Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, “covered in pop culture breadcrumbs” (film critic Dita Rietuma), are still just historic cultural quotes.
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The production is supported by the Borisa and Ināras Teterevu Foundation for Valmiera Theatre’s 2024/2025 season. It is marked by the theatre’s return to the renovated and modernised building on Lāčplēša Street, so the theme of the productions is homecoming and the different manifestations of love.
Five of the new productions have been made possible by the theatre’s strong friendship with the Borisa and Ināras Teterevu Foundation. These are William Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet (directed by Inese Mičule), Gunārs Priede’s Blue (directed by Māra Ķimele), Anna Brigadere’s play Sprīdītis (directed by Reinis Suhanovs), another play by Gunārs Priede, Thirteenth, staged under the title Four White Shirts (directed by Jānis Znotiņš) and The Magic Mountain (directed by Toms Treinis), based on Thomas Mann’s novel.
This support is a continuation of the collaboration started in the theatre’s centenary season (2023/2024). With the support of the Foundation, four classics of Latvian drama have been staged, which have been acclaimed by the public and critics: Joseph and His Brothers (directed by Inese Mičule), The Widow’s Son (directed by Viesturs Roziņš), The Boys of Valmiera (directed by Jānis Znotiņš) and The Prodigal Son (directed by Reinis Suhanovs).
Photo: Mārtiņš Vilkārsis
