TALLINN CITY THEATRE'S INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVAL MIDWINTER NIGHT’S DREAM
Every two years starting from 2000 Tallinn City Theatre organises an international theatre festival named the Midwinter Night’s Dream. Traditionally the festival takes place during the last five days of December. Midwinter Night’s Dream is not a Shakespeare festival, although the name might imply it – the paraphrase refers to the magic time between Christmas and New Year, when anything is possible.
The idea of organising a festival was born after the City Theatre had moved into its freshly renovated new wing. The theatre, which until then had to cope with a single black box seating a hundred spectators, suddenly had a unique complex with multiple venues at its disposal – perfect for inviting guest performers from all over the world. On the other hand it was clear that the City Theatre building with its small venues and intimate atmosphere was not created for mass events – it was better suited for close communications and an exchange of experiences.
Thus was born the idea of bringing a number of brilliant theatre companies together in Tallinn at the end of the year – the stress being on the word “together”, because unlike many large festivals Midwinter Night’s Dream dedicates a lot of attention to creating the opportunity for the performers to arrive and leave at the same time, to see each other’s performances and to have a chance to learn from each other. Also, the audience has had the opportunity to meet interesting theatre makers from different countries at discussions, performances or workshops.
Each time the festival has had a new artistic director, which means that the choice of productions has varied greatly from year to year. The scale of productions has stretched from the psychological masterworks of Peter Brook and Kama Ginkas to a spirited African dance show, from the German avant-garde of Frank Castorf and Martin Wuttke to the serious Finnish everyday tragedy of Reko Lundan, from Dmitri Krymov’s visual narrative to Japanese one-man comedy of Issey Ogata. Each festival has enriched the local theatrical palette and offered the audience a variety of productions which otherwise would probably never have reached Estonian stages. We have always tried to invite productions which are somewhat different from the typical “festival productions” touring all over Europe, and which would bring along a clearly recognisable element representing their homeland.
The workshops are becoming a more and more important part of the festival programme. We are proud to have been able to make it possible for our audience to meet such renowned theatre makers as Anatoli Vassilyev, Kama Ginkas, Adolph Shapiro, Frank Castorf, Patravadi Medjuhon, Issey Ogata, Dmitry Krymov, Bruce Myers and others.
Festival 2010 – Dmitri Krymov’s retrospective
Our team is working hard to bring you the next festival in December 2010. This time we have chosen a very particular focus – the festival of 2010 will be a retrospective of Dmitri Krymov, a versatile and talented artist who has become a unique phenomenon in Russian theatre.
Dmitri Krymov comes from a theatrical family – he’s the son of the legendary director Anatoly Efros and theatre critic Natalya Krymova. He was born in 1954 in Moscow and graduated in 1976 from the scenography department of the Moscow Art Theatre School. He then worked in the Malaya Bronnaya theatre with his father. He has created more than 80 productions in Moscow, Riga, Sofia, Tokyo and Paris.
In 2006 Krymov was a guest at the Midwinter Night’s Dream festival with his production “Sir Vantes. Donky Khot”, and he also conducted a workshop. This time the plan is to present a more detailed overview of his highly visual productions, which are created in cooperation with his scenography students: “Giraffe”, “Katerina’s Dreams”, “Opus 7” etc.
Festival programme in 2008
- "The Grand Inquisitor", directed by Peter Brook, performed by Bruce Myers, Théatre des Bouffes du Nord (France)
- "Artaud Remembers Adolf Hitler and the Romanische Café", directed by Paul Plamper, performed by Martin Wuttke, Berliner Ensemble (Germany)
- "Sonya", directed by Alvis Hermanis, performed by Gundars Abolinš and Jevgenis Isajevs, New Theatre of Riga (Latvia)
- "Moments of Reality", written, directed and performed by Jan Jönson (Sweden)
- "Stones in His Pockets", directed by Jaanus Rohumaa, performed by Argo Aadli and Indrek Ojari, Tallinn City Theatre (Estonia)
- In addition: workshop by Bruce Myers, open discussion with Jan Jönson, open meeting with Martin Wuttke
Artistic director: Laur Kaunissaare
Festival programme in 2006
- “The Catalogue of City Life”, directed by Yuzo Morita, presented by Issey Ogata (Japan)
- “Sir Vantes. Donky Khot”, directed by Dmitry Krymov, The School of Dramatic Art, Dmitry Krymov’s Creative Laboratory (Russia)
- “Somu”, directed by Richard Danquah, Kusum Gboo Dance Ensemble (Ghana)
- Jón Atli Jónasson “A Hundred Year-Old House”, directed by Haflidi Arngrimmson, Frú Emilía Theatre (Iceland)
- Neillidh Mulligan and Vincent Woods (Ireland)
- “The Tailor”, directed by Mart Koldits, Tallinn City Theatre (Estonia)
In addition: a meeting with Issey Ogata and Yuzo Morita, drums and dance workshops by Kusum Gboo, Dmitry Krymov’s workshop, a meeting with Jón Atli Jónasson, evening jam sessions at the festival club, the performance of a short play specially written by Jaan Tätte by all festival participants at the New Year’s Party.
Artistic Director: Jaanus Rohumaa
Festival programme in 2004
- "The Slave", directed by Yevgeny Arye, Gesher Theatre (Israel)
- "S.V.", directed by Pavel Adamchikov, Yanka Kupala Academic Theatre of Belarus
- "Girlpower", directed by Malin Stenberg, Backa Theatre (Sweden)
- "Unnecessary People", directed by Reko Lundan, KOM Theatre (Finland)
- "Fathers and Sons", directed by Adolph Shapiro, Tallinn City Theatre (Estonia)
- "Vincent", directed by Ain Prosa, Tallinn City Theatre (Estonia)
In addition: seminars on new drama and theatre for young people, acting workshop by Adolph Shapiro (with Estonian drama students).
Artistic Director: Jaan J. Leppik
Festival programme in 2002
- "Terminus America", directed by Frank Castorf, Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (Germany)
- "Experience: Seagull", directed by Andrii Zholdak, Theatre of Nations (Russia)
- "Silent Music", directed by Lennart Hjulström, Riksteatern (Sweden)
- "Hunter's Moon: Agamemnon and Tyndareus' Daughter", directed by Vassilis Laggos, "Actoriones" (Greece)
- "All About Basic", choreography by Manop Meejamrat, Patravadi Theatre (Thailand)
- "Happy Everyday!", directed by Andrus Vaarik, Tallinn City Theatre (Estonia)
In addition: a video lecture by Anatoli Vassilyev, workshops by Patravadi Medjuhon and Vassilis Laggos, and a symposium on the work of Estonian playwright Jaan Tätte.
Artistic Director: Andres Laasik
Festival programme in 2000
- "K.I. from Crime and Punishment", directed by Kama Ginkas, Young Spectator's Theatre of Moscow (Russia)
- "Miss Pollinger", directed by Edith Koerber, "tri-bühne" (Germany)
- "Endgame", directed by Iwona Kempa, Wilam Horzyca Theatre of Torun (Poland)
- "Trümmer Girls", directed by Nika Brettschneider, "Brett" (Austria)
- "Gargantua and Pantagruel", directed by Stanislavas Rubinovas, Kaunas Youth Chamber Theatre (Lithuania)
- "The Elder Son", directed by Regnars Vaivars, Latvian National Theatre
- "Cinderella", directed by Gabor Szilagyi, Hungarian National Opera
- "Hamlet", directed by Elmo Nüganen, Tallinn City Theatre (Estonia)
Contact information
"Midwinter Night's Dream"
Tallinn City Theatre
Lai 23, 10133, Tallinn
ph. 372 6650 805
fax 372 6650 802
festival@linnateater.ee
