“The Return of Furby”

We were at a literature festival in Croatia last autumn. It was exactly the time when Croatia was going to close its borders to the refugees. I was taking a nap at the hotel when I received a call from a good friend of mine, the writer Jan Kaus. Jan apologized for having disturbed me in my sleep: he is such a polite man! It was perfectly OK since the dream I had had was really peculiar. In fact, I felt relieved.

In my dream I had won first prize at the literature festival. And what a prize it was! I had been awarded a female companion, a young and pretty muslim girl, a refugee.

In my dream I was feeling somewhat vexed. What to do next? How was I going to explain it to my wife? But maybe one refugee woman is exactly what everybody needs? Someone to talk to, someone to take care of. On the other hand, are we capable of listening to or understanding each other anymore? After all, can we say we at least know ourselves?

Urmas Vadi

• Furby is an electronic robotic toy with large shiny eyes. It resembles a vampire or an owl-like creature. Whenever you touch it, it starts out speaking Furbish, the unique language that all Furbies use. It always sounds happy and enthusiastic and speaks in a clear loud voice. Once we driving with the family from Tartu to Pärnu in our car and Furby was alone in the boot. Every now and then, with each bump on the road, Furby became alert and broke the silence. In fact it kept talking the whole way to Pärnu. When we, humans, have nothing to talk about anymore, Furby might help out.

Premier on 18 April 2017 at the Vaba Lava venue.

Artist´s talk after the second performance on 19 April.