THE DIVIDE

Since 1992, the state border between the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Federation has run along the Narva River. As the geopolitical situation in the world changes, so does the relationship between countries and their people. How are these changes reflected in the lives of the residents of Narva? Do borders and divides run between countries or between people? Or within people? And what role do walnuts play in a man’s health? These are the topics addressed in this production using the tools and methods of documentary theatre.

The theatre troupe, which consists of actors from both Russia and Estonia, interviewed the residents of Narva, asking them for the first time over a long period of time, what they thought about life. These stories become part of this authentic, fun and sad documentary performance.

PARTICIPATING VIA VIDEO: The actors of “Masterskaja Brusnikina”: Alissa Kretova, Anastassia Velikorodnaja, Deniss Jasik, Darja Vorohobko, Sergey Fišer, Aleksei Žerebtsov

“The divide” is the opening performance of the new Vaba Lava curatorial program. The curator of the Vaba Lava in the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 seasons is the Lithuanian playwright Marius Ivaškevičius. The theme of the curatorial program is “The people of the great upheaval”, which focuses on the years 1989–2019 and The Baltic States and its closest neighbours – Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. It is precisely in these geographical and temporal boundaries that Vaba Lava wishes to explore the fates of people through theatre art during the next two seasons.

Director Yuri Kviatkovsky is a Russian actor and director who teaches in the school-studio “MHAT” and is one of the founders of the independent creative group Le Cirque de Sharles La Tannes. As a director, Kviatkovsky was nominated for the Russian National Theater Award Golden Mask in 2014 for the production “Doll’s House” and in 2015 for the production “Normansk” in the category of best experiments.

The production is supported by the Integration Foundation, the Cultural Endowment, the USRF Foundation in cooperation with the Station Narva Festival, the Ministry of Culture and Fortaco Estonia.

Length 2h 25min, with an intermission. Performance in Estonian and Russian.