Tom Stoppard
LEOPOLDSTADT
Large hall
A family saga
Translated from English by Laila Burāne
Premiere - 15th September, 2023
Duration - 3h 10min
25.04.24., 9.05.24., 30.05.24., 27.08.24., 20.09.24. and 29.10.24. performance with English surtitles. For better visibility of the surtitles, we recommend choosing seats starting from the 7th row and back.
Sir Tom Stoppard's latest play “Leopoldstadt” is one of the most remarkable and widely discussed works of drama in recent times. In this play, the author not only has examined the fate of his own family but seems to have expressed creative potential accumulated over decades. "Leopoldstadt" tells the story of a family living through the greatest human disasters of the 20th century. The play is named after the Jewish quarter in Vienna. At the end of 1899, with a new age on the horizon, a large family of Jewish intellectuals living in Austria-Hungary, "a patchwork empire", gathers for a festive dinner. In a country where Slavs, Germans, Hungarians and Jews live together, a delicate balance exists – at least as long as people hold on to their humanity. But the dawn of the new era threatens to change the order of things. The narrative follows events surrounding the family until 1955 when only three members of the entire family will be left alive. We, the viewers, already know what lies ahead, while they await the coming century full of hope: “I think the 20th century has arrived. We wept by the waters of Babylon, but that’s gone, and everything after, expulsion, massacres, burnings, blood libels, gone like the Middle Ages – pogroms, ghettos, yellow patches – all rolled up and dumped like an old carpet, because Europe has gone past them.”
"Leopoldstadt" boldly examines what it means to be different – a stranger among strangers, not only in one's own eyes but also in the eyes of others. It poses hard questions about our past and our future – how to preserve one's roots, protect one's sense of self, and survive as a small nation in a world gone mad.
CAST
Artūrs Skrastiņš (Hermann), Lidija Pupure (Emilia), Kristīne Nevarauska (Eva), Vita Vārpiņa (Gretl), Kārlis Arnolds Avots (Ludwig), Ilze Ķuzule-Skrastiņa (Wilma), Imants Strads (Ernst), Milēna Miškēviča (Hannah), Toms Veličko, Gustavs Gudris, Emīls Juhans Bahmanis (Jacob), Anete Krasovska (Nellie), Katrīna Griga , Adriāna Rozentāle, Hermīne Bekiča (Sally), Dārta Daneviča, Paula Cikota, Emīlija Plone (Rosa), Indra Briķe (Poldi), Lelde Dreimane (Jana), Klāvs Kristaps Košins (Fritz), Gints Andžāns (Aaron), Ģirts Ķesteris (Kurt), Dainis Gaidelis (Zac), Andris Bulis (Percy), Kaspars Dumburs, Eduards Vārpiņš, Artūrs Lazdāns (Nathan), Aldis Siliņš (Civilian), Madara Viļčuka, Meinards Liepiņš, Edvards Bērziņš, Artūrs Lazdāns, Mārtiņš Upenieks, Kārlis Inka or Edvards Pauls Glāzītis or Helēna Isajeva or Evelīna Karele or Džastina Šternberga or Hermīne Bekiča or Gustavs Silnieks or Ernests Goba
PRODUCTION TEAM
Director - Džons Malkovičs (John Malkovich)
Set Designer - Pjērs-Fransuā Limbošs (Pierre-François Limbosch)
Costume Designer - Birgita Hutere (Birgit Hutter)
Composer - Timofejs Pastuhovs (Timofei Pastukhov)
Assistant Set Designer - Rūdolfs Bekičs, Sintija Jēkabsone
Assistant Costume Designer - Jurate Silakaktiņa
Assistant Director - Diāna Kaijaka
Lightning Designer - Mārtiņš Jansons
Lolita Tomsone, Juris Vaivods
