“LATVIAN HORROR STORIES” PREMIERED

On 1 October, the mystical drama “Latvian Horror Stories” (dir. G. Surkov) premiered on the stage of the Daugavpils Theatre. During the performance, six stories befitting the season of souls—about encounters with the supernatural and the consequences of choices made—came to life in the warm candlelight on a stage clad in wood by artist Andris Eglītis.

The story of the production began with a book, “Latvian Horror Stories”, which director Georgijs Surkov happened to notice. In it, literary scholar Bārbala Simsone had compiled works by Latvian authors written in the horror genre over the past hundred years. For his production, the director selected six of them: Ralfs Kokins’s “The Story of the Blue Coffin in the Engure Cemetery”, which tells of a series of mysterious incidents in the Engure area; Mirdza Bendrupe’s story “Helena”, about a mysterious being encountered in the Great Cemetery on Miera Street; Aleksandrs Grīns’s “Silent Guests”, about a Latvian rifleman’s meeting with his old comrades-in-arms; “The Life Story of Indriķis Vecārs”, about witches in the lands of the Zemgale overlord; Viesturs Reimers’s “The Mirror”, about the dangers hidden in the reflection of an old mirror; and Vladimirs Kaijaks’s “Vision”, about the mysterious disappearance of a beloved in the dead of night.

While creating the production, its director Georgijs Surkov concluded that Latvian horror stories are not all that frightening. Moreover, the supernatural in them does not always come with evil intentions; one can often learn to live with it, and even befriend it. And no matter how mysterious and ghostly the circumstances of these stories may be, each is essentially about human feelings and relationships.

Bārbala Simsone, compiler of the collection “Latvian Horror Stories”, was among the première audience and gladly shared her impressions: “When I learned that ‘Latvian Horror Stories’ would be staged at the Daugavpils Theatre, I was pleasantly surprised and delighted, because it did not seem to me that this collection had received much attention, and the short-story format is not always particularly well suited to the theatre. But the director has handled this task excellently, and the stories selected are also very different, offering an impression of the spectrum of Latvian fears. I would also like to commend the ensemble of actors, who are able to perform six entirely different plots in a relatively short period of time—some with poignant elements, as in Aleksandrs Grīns’s story ‘Silent Guests’, and others somewhat comic, as in the stage interpretation of the final story, ‘Vision’.”

The set design for “Latvian Horror Stories” was created by artist Andris Eglītis; the musical design was by composer Platons Buravickis; the costume designer was Inga Bermaka; and the lighting designer was Sergejs Vasiļjevs.

The cast includes Zanda Mankopa, Agnese Laicāne, Jūlija Ļaha, Kristīne Veinšteina, Egils Viļumovs, Ritvars Gailums, Marģers Eglinskis, Kārlis Tols, Artjoms Afanasjevs, Miroslavs Blakunovs, Jevgeņijs Mihailovs and Raimonds Paegle.

The next performance is on 6 November at 3:00 p.m.