In the Burbeķi Cemetery, flowers are stolen and sold at the market. The little stick is drawn, and another one is drawn. The crazy Pauline and her sister, having arranged for a photographer, pose to be photographed in a coffin dress – they must see if the fall on the back is good enough?! The greedy Marta Skrapste slams a wooden wall in the middle of the room and lives with her Jēkabs Skostiņš, whom she pretends to be divorced from because it’s more financially advantageous. In the midst of it all, the Director ponders the Hamlet-like question of “to be or not to be.”
The performance is based on the stories from Vizma Belševica’s 1979 collection Nelaime mājās (Misfortune at Home). Belševica’s mother sold produce from the Lucavsala garden at the Matīsa Street market, and much of the content in the collection comes from stories shared by market women brought home. Benevolent humor, satire, and an ironical attitude of a worldly-wise person. The vitality of a worldview and an ironically strong gaze at human weaknesses. An opportunity to relax a little in dark humor, without judgment, and in the lightness of the familiar life theater.
