| Alvis Hermanis |
 Sat-Sun 15–16 December 7pm Congress Centre Latvian Love Tickets: 30 PLN, concessions 20 PLN Wed 19 December 6pm Cinema Room Masters’ Cinema: Alvis Hermanis & New Riga Theatre Sonya Admission free  Alvis Hermanis was born in 1965. He trained as an actor at the Theatre Department of the Latvian State Conservatoire from which he graduated in 1988. In his performances he often plays with different concepts, signs, images and symbols of Eastern and Western cultures. He has also been a playwright, stage designer and appeared as an actor in his own productions. Alvis Hermanis’ productions have been shown at many international theatre festivals in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Columbia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Korea, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Russia, USA, UK, and New Zealand. He is the winner of the Young Directors Project Award (Max Reinhardt’s Pen) at Salzburger Festspiele (2003), the 9th Europe Prize New Theatrical Realities (2007), the Nestroy Prize (2010), the Konrad Wolf Prize (2010), the Best Director Award and the Grand Prix at the International Theatre Festival “Kontakt” (2010), and the Golden Mask Award for Shukshin’s Stories (2010). In 2012 Du magazine named him as one of the ten most important theatre personalities in Europe, and Theatertreffen listed his production of Platonov (Burgthetaer, Vienna, 2011) among the ten best productions of the season in German speaking countries. His most recent awards in Latvia include the Three Stars Order (2012). Since 1997 Alvis Hermanis has been Artistic Director of the New Riga Theatre (NRT). His most famous productions, in Latvia and abroad, include Eugen Onegin (Schaubuhne Berlin, 2011), Das weite Land (Burgtheater/Akademietheater, Vienna, 2011), Oblomov (Schauspielhaus Köln and NRT, 2011), Platonov (Burgtheater, 2011), Friedhofsfest (co-produced by the NRT and Wiener Festwochen, Vienna), Black Milk (2010), Le Signorine di Wilko (Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione in Teatro Storchi, Modena, 2010), Die Geheimnisse der Kabbala (Schauspielhaus Köln, 2009), Marta from the Blue Hill (2009), Grandfather (2009), Shukshin’s Stories (Theatre of Nations, Moscow, 2008), Der Idiot. Anfang des Romans (Schauspielhaus Zürich, 2008), The Sound of Silence (produced by spielzeit’europa/Berliner Festspiele and NRT, 2007), Väter (Schauspielhaus Zürich, 2007), Latvian Love (2006), Sonia (2006), The Ice. A Collective Reading of the Book with the Help of Imagination in Riga and Frankfurt (Ruhr Triennnale, Gladbeck; Schauspielfrankurt, 2005), Long Life (2003), The Story About Kaspar Hauser (2002), The Inspector General (2002), Maidens from Wilko (2000), My Poor Marat (1997), The Fire and the Night (Latvian National Opera, 1996), The Seagull (1996), The Blazing Darkness (Von Krahli Teatter, Tallinn, 1994). The New Riga Theatre is a professional repertory theatre that produces innovative work responding, in form and content, to the needs of independently thinking contemporary audiences. The artistic policy of the NRT is simple: to produce high-quality work that is professional, ethically minded and aesthetically appealing. The theatre offers an intelligent and exciting program of shows aimed at modern, educated and socially active audiences. In an era of mass production and stress, the NRT wants to affirm humanism, vitality and emotions, and searches for a way back to harmony and simplicity! Although the New Riga Theatre is a state-owned repertory theatre, it has managed to retain the spirit and work methods of a theatre studio, firmly adhering to the values of non-commercial art. The New Riga Theatre’s programme of shows is focused on the study of theatre technique rather than on box-office returns. The rehearsal period often lasts more than a year, and shows are made not only for the large 470-seat auditorium, but also for other stages, some of them outside the theatre. The New Riga Theatre is located in the centre of the city and at the centre of Latvian theatre life. In 1997 the management of the theatre was taken over by Alvis Hermanis, its artistic director. A new artistic ensemble was formed, comprising 17 actors who are the most professional Latvian actors of their generation. In 2004 the company was joined by nine new actors. The New Riga Theatre has performed in over thirty countries. |