Theatre pla

»Searching for traces« – two burglars rummage through an apartment. Sonja lives here, a maid, a little limited, a little ugly and lonely. She does, however, have some talents: she can cook extraordinarily, she can sew and she is a gifted nag. One day she receives a love letter, fervent and serious, and Sonja’s heart goes up in flames. She dedicates herself to the pursuit of this new, unexpected happiness.

With her precise observations and metaphoric language, the story »Sonja« (1991) by Tatjana Tolstaja, born in 1951 in Leningrad (St. Petersburg), is an excellent example of the special quality of modern Russian literature. Gundars Āboliņš slips captivatingly from the role of the burglar to the role of Sonja and presents the transformative powers of love in an extremely touching manner.

Alvis Hermanis, born in 1965 in Riga, studied acting at the Latvian Conservatoire in his hometown. He began directing while still at acting school. He has worked with the New Theatre in Riga since 1993 and has been its artistic director since 1997. He numbers amongst the most important directors in Eastern Europe and has been invited to international festivals around the world. In 2007 he received the European Theatre Award »New theatrical realities« in Thessaloniki. He presented a guest performance of his piece »Tālāk« (»Forwards – Based on Gorki«) as the festival opening for euro-scene Leipzig in 2004.

»In ›Sonja‹, Hermanis tells much more than simply the story of his character. He tells the story of the desire and (limited) ability of people to put themselves in someone else’s position. He tells the story of the potential of the imagination and of the necessity of doubting its accuracy. This makes the piece poetic and political at the same time – a masterpiece« (Judith Helmer, www.corpusweb.net, Vienna, 14.05.2007).