Latvian Puppet Theatre

Latvian Puppet Theatre
Latvijas Leļļu teātris
The theatre building in 2010
Interactive map of Latvian Puppet Theatre
AddressKrišjāņa Barona iela 16/18
Riga
Latvia
Coordinates56°57′4.14″N 24°7′18.03″E / 56.9511500°N 24.1216750°E / 56.9511500; 24.1216750
TypePuppet theatre
Construction
Opened4 October 1944 (1944-10-04)
Website
www.lelluteatris.lv/en/

The Latvian Puppet Theatre (Latvian: Latvijas Leļļu teātris) is a professional puppet theatre in Riga, Latvia. Founded on 4 October 1944, it was Latvia's first professional puppet theatre.[1][2] Its repertoire uses traditional puppetry, object theatre, animation and other forms of visual theatre, with productions for children, young people and adults.[3][4]

The theatre is based at Krišjāņa Barona iela 16/18 in central Riga. It is operated by VSIA Latvijas Leļļu teātris, a state-owned limited liability company, and is led by theatre director Mārtiņš Eihe, who took office in June 2022.[5][6]

History

Wartime formation and establishment

The theatre developed from a puppet group organised in 1942 within the Latvian SSR State Art Ensemble, which was then working in Ivanovo in the Russian SFSR. The group was led by poet Mirdza Ķempe and writer and translator Jānis Žīgurs, and performed for Latvian evacuees and soldiers during the Second World War.[1][4][2]

Its first performance after returning to Latvia took place in Daugavpils on 3 October 1944. The following day, the Latvian SSR Arts Administration granted the ensemble the status of a professional state theatre. It moved to Riga in November 1944 and, after using several temporary venues, settled in the former Radio Modern cinema on Krišjāņa Barona Street.[1][7]

Post-war artistic development

A Russian-language company was established in 1946. During the following decades, directors, designers and puppet makers including Arnolds Burovs, Tīna Hercberga, Pāvils Šenhofs, Alberts Terpilovskis and Anna Nollendorfa helped shape the theatre's artistic practice.[1] Productions used glove and rod puppets, while directors and designers also combined puppetry with acting, music, film and other stage forms.[1]

Šenhofs joined the theatre in 1946 and served as its chief designer from 1950 to 2000. During more than five decades at the theatre, he designed puppets and scenography for over 300 productions.[8] Hercberga developed productions for adult audiences from the mid-1950s and later directed the experimental revue Interlellis-67 (1967), created with Šenhofs and playwright Gunārs Priede. The production used approximately 120 puppets and became a landmark in the theatre's history.[9][10]

Other long-running productions included Un atkal Pifs... (Pif Again...), first staged in 1983. It remained in the repertoire for four decades.[8]

After the restoration of Latvian independence

The institution was renamed the Latvian State Puppet Theatre in 1991 and adopted its current name in 2005.[1] From the 1990s, productions were increasingly developed for more specific age groups, including preschool children, school-age audiences, teenagers and adults. The theatre also expanded its use of marionettes, sand animation, object theatre and collaborations with visiting directors.[1]

During the closure of theatres in the COVID-19 pandemic, it opened a digital stage called Dīvānzāle in February 2021. The platform presented recordings and screen adaptations of productions in Latvian and Russian while the company continued preparing new work.[11]

Eihe became the theatre's board member and director in 2022. Under his leadership, the theatre increased its emphasis on contemporary visual theatre, young directors and productions for teenage and adult audiences.[6][3] Regular Russian-language performances ended in the 2023-24 season, while the theatre continued as a single Latvian-language company.[12]

Artistic profile and repertoire

The theatre works with glove, rod and string puppets, as well as object theatre, paper animation, live actors, movement, sound and projection. Its repertoire includes adaptations of Latvian and international literature, original works and productions that combine puppetry with other performing arts.[1][3]

Contemporary productions have continued the theatre's earlier tradition of work for audiences beyond young children. Bez morāles. Ar lellēm (Without Morals. With Puppets, 2022) was created as a political cabaret for adults, while Jelgava '94 (2024), based on the novel by Jānis Joņevs, was made for teenage and adult audiences.[13][14]

Valters Sīlis's production Sibīrijas haiku (Siberian Haiku, 2024), adapted from the graphic novel by Jurga Vilė and Lina Itagaki, used paper animation, projected drawings and live sound to present the history of Soviet deportations through a child's perspective. Theatre critic Ilze Kļaviņa described the production as balancing its visual form with the seriousness of its subject.[15]

The theatre marked its 80th anniversary in 2024 with an exhibition devoted to Šenhofs and a production reflecting on the legacy of Hercberga and Interlellis-67.[16][9]

Building

The theatre's two-storey building at Krišjāņa Barona iela 16/18 was designed by architect Ernests Pole and built in 1911. It was not originally constructed as a theatre and accommodated several uses, including the Radio Modern cinema, workshops, shops and a small winter animal house. The puppet company moved into the former cinema premises after the Second World War, adapting the stage and adding an orchestra pit.[7]

By the early 1980s, the building's technical condition had become critical. A major reconstruction began in 1990, during which the theatre operated from temporary premises. A later ownership dispute with the heirs of the pre-war owners ended in the theatre's favour in 2001.[7]

The company again moved temporarily to the Riga Latvian Society building during a reconstruction from 2021 to 2023. The project strengthened the historic structure, improved energy efficiency and accessibility, renewed technical systems and raised the ceiling of the small auditorium. The building was commissioned in November 2023, and performances resumed there on 15 December.[17][12] The construction work cost approximately €4.13 million excluding value-added tax.[17]

International activity

The theatre has toured internationally and participated in puppet-theatre festivals in Europe and elsewhere. It hosted the seventh Festival of Puppet Theatres of the Baltic States and the Byelorussian SSR in 1986 and the ninth Baltic Sea States puppet-theatre festival in 1999.[18][2]

In 2026, the theatre organised the third Baltic Visual Theatre Showcase, held in Latvia for the first time. The programme brought together puppet, object, physical and interdisciplinary visual-theatre productions from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Finland for public audiences and international theatre professionals.[19]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Latvijas Leļļu teātris". Nacionālā enciklopēdija (in Latvian). Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 "Latvia". World Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts. UNIMA. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 Rībena, Sanita (3 October 2024). "Kurp dodas Latvijas Leļļu teātris? Stāsta direktors Mārtiņš Eihe un galvenā māksliniece Pamela Butāne" [Where is the Latvian Puppet Theatre going? Director Mārtiņš Eihe and chief designer Pamela Butāne explain]. LSM (in Latvian). Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Theatre". Latvian Puppet Theatre. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  5. ↑ "Contacts". Latvian Puppet Theatre. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  6. 1 2 "Atklātā konkursā Latvijas Leļļu teātra valdes locekļa amatam izraudzīts Mārtiņš Eihe" [Mārtiņš Eihe selected as board member of the Latvian Puppet Theatre in an open competition] (in Latvian). Ministry of Culture of Latvia. 12 May 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 "Buildings and Legends: The Colourful History of Puppet Theatre". State Real Estate. 2 February 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  8. 1 2 "Leļļu tēvs - Latvijas Leļļu teātris atzīmē mākslinieka Pāvila Šenhofa simtgadi" [Father of puppets: Latvian Puppet Theatre marks the centenary of artist Pāvils Šenhofs]. LSM (in Latvian). 5 January 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  9. 1 2 "Latvijas Leļļu teātris atklāj savas leģendas «Leģendārajā izrādē»" [Latvian Puppet Theatre reveals its legends in The Legendary Performance]. LSM (in Latvian). 19 September 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  10. ↑ Jance, Diāna (2 October 2024). "Ar bērna dvēseles kripatiņu. Saruna ar Leļļu teātra režisori Viju Blūzmu" [With a fragment of a child's soul: an interview with puppet-theatre director Vija Blūzma]. Latvijas Avīze (in Latvian). Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  11. ↑ Lācis, Jānis (9 February 2021). "Leļļu teātris ar četrām cikla «Teātris.zip» izrādēm atklāj Dīvānzāli" [Puppet Theatre opens its digital stage with four Theatre.zip productions]. LSM (in Latvian). Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  12. 1 2 Rozenberga, Māra (15 December 2023). "Leļļu teātris atgriežas mājās ar iestudējumu «Riekstkodis un žurku ķēniņš»" [Puppet Theatre returns home with The Nutcracker and the Mouse King]. Latvijas Radio (in Latvian). Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  13. ↑ Mellēna-Bartkeviča, Lauma (15 December 2022). "Skumji naiva popsa un zvaigžņu alkas" [Sadly naive pop and the hunger for stardom]. Kroders.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  14. ↑ "Latvijas Leļļu teātrī top «Jelgava '94» Mārtiņa Eihes režijā" [Jelgava '94 is being staged at the Latvian Puppet Theatre under the direction of Mārtiņš Eihe] (in Latvian). Ministry of Culture of Latvia. 21 March 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  15. ↑ Kļaviņa, Ilze (16 January 2024). "Par ābolu sēkliņām un mums" [On apple seeds and us]. Kroders.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  16. ↑ Rozenberga, Māra (28 September 2024). "Leļļu teātris jubilejā atskatās uz vēsturi un diskutē par laikmetīgā teātra nākotni" [Puppet Theatre looks back at its history and discusses the future of contemporary theatre on its anniversary]. Latvijas Radio (in Latvian). Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  17. 1 2 "Latvijas Leļļu teātra rekonstrukcija noslēgusies: ēka nodota ekspluatācijā" [Reconstruction of the Latvian Puppet Theatre completed: building commissioned] (in Latvian). State Real Estate. 10 November 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  18. ↑ "Festivals". Latvian Puppet Theatre. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  19. ↑ "The Baltic Visual Theatre Showcase Comes to Latvia for the First Time". New Theatre Institute of Latvia. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
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