On Friday, February 21st, at 2:00 PM, the “Jūras vārti” theatre will host a performance based on the motifs of Sudraba Edžus’ most famous work, “Dullais Dauka.” The production is directed by Jurģis Lūšs from the Latvian National Theatre. It is a performance for young people who seek to test boundaries and discover what lies “beyond the horizon,” in various meanings of the term.
For director Jurģis Lūšs, this is his debut at the National Theatre, a project made possible with the help of young actors Kārlis Reijers, Elza Rūta Jordāne, and the experienced Ivars Puga, as well as set and costume designer Ildze Jurkovska, composer Henrijs Poikāns, and lighting artist Lienīte Slišāne.
The young director reveals that the choice to stage Sudraba Edžus’ “Dullais Dauka” was almost accidental: “I had worked with this material when I was studying in the set design department at the Art Academy, but it wasn’t my first choice when I went to meet with the theatre management. During the conversation, I mentioned ‘Dullais Dauka,’ and in the end, I ended up directing this particular work.”
The director of “Dullais Dauka” shares that the initial idea was to target a middle school audience, as it seemed that high school students might not find it as interesting. However, the performance ended up attracting a different kind of audience: “Seeing how everything came together, we concluded that ‘young people’ is the most accurate term for the audience. The performances have included not only school-aged children but also young people my age – 20-25 years old – who have watched with interest and responded positively afterward.”
When asked what most successfully resonated with this audience, Jurģis Lūšs believes it could be the message about the need to constantly explore and learn more: “It’s a story about how Dauka goes through life on Earth, discovering almost everything that can be discovered, but still not finding enough answers. So, he decides to cross the horizon in the sea or at least try to get there. I think maybe it’s this healthy dissatisfaction with the world that spoke to people. I also sometimes have that feeling that everything seems to be in place, but still, there’s this constant urge to cross that metaphorical horizon to learn more, understand more, and become more aware. I even hope that this is what resonates the most in the performance.”
Both the choice of material and the overall staging deserve a big plus, as both the audience and the always direct critics are pleased with what they saw and experienced. “The beauty of Jurģis Lūšs’ interpretation lies in the fact that the director and actor do not present Dauka as a fool, as the Flower Ansis, who can’t be trusted with any task. In the stylized pilot’s outfit, Dauka is both a dreamer artist and a budding scientist,” wrote theatre critic Undīne Adamaite in Kultūras Dienā after the premiere.
Meanwhile, Edīte Tišheizere called the production in Ir a pure joy lasting just under one and a half hours: “It’s pure joy – to follow the three actors on their journey of discovery to answer Dauka’s big questions for nearly an hour and a half. Joy in their joy of working together, catching each other before a stumble, passing the ‘ball’ precisely, catching a look or a gesture — all three play professionally and at a high level, and there’s no divide between the experienced and the newcomers. They are colleagues.”
Speaking about working with actors of such varied experience, Jurģis Lūšs reveals that it only benefited the production: “Each one brought their own vision, their different contribution. There was a good balance between fun and serious work, thinking about how to tell the story and resolve it.”
The guest performance at the “Jūras vārti” theatre is organized by SIA “Kurzemes filharmonija”, with financial support from the Ventspils City Municipality and the State Culture Capital Foundation. Tickets can be purchased at the “Latvija” concert hall box office (Monday from 12:00-15:00/16:00-18:00; Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from 12:00-14:30/15:00-17:00) and at all “Biļešu paradīze” sales points. The box office at the “Jūras vārti” theatre will open one hour before the event. The performance is eligible for the “Latvijas Skolas soma” project, which can be used for school visits.
