Has anyone else here seen Staprāns’ second play about Ulmanis in 1940, which ran at Dailes Teātris and is now touring as a streamlined production in North America?

P.C. cited an interview with Staprāns in an earlier thread, and in Diena online I found a review of the play in which the writer thought the puppetry was a theater cliche, and that there was a conflict between the script and the way that the actor delivered the lines.  Personally, I thought it was a great production, but I haven’t attended enough live theater to be properly ennui-stricken.

I’ve not yet seen it yet - it’s coming here in two weeks.  Thanks for the recommendation.

Just FYI: we are gearing up to celebrate Ulmanis’ 135th birthday here next week. Ought to be fun.

D*mn, 135?. He woulda been an old dude, had he lived. Peter B woulda had a ready-made joke about it too.

Having visited Kārlis Ulmanis’ monument at the University of Nebraska years ago, I have no jokes to make about his amazing life.

RIP….and happy B-Day to you, former Lett Leader,  Kārli . Despite the snipes of a lot of sometimes shallow LOLers, Kārli, you - unlike most of us - had a significant life. History’s interpretation is a separate matter.

Al

The TILTS site has Gundega Saulīte’s review here…
http://tilts.org/lv/aploksne.php?../sarikojumi/rakstsLaikaa.ssi

Here is the schedule of all performances:

Dailes Teātra viesturneja Ziemeļamerikā 2012. gadā ar
Raimonda Staprāna lugu ‘Gūsteknis Pilī’
 
PORTLANDĒ - ceturtdien, 23. aug., plkst. 19:00  
        Oreganas Latviešu centrā – 5500 SW Dosch Rd. Portland, OR
  Rīko Oreganas Latviešu biedrība – Ināra Beitlere 503-277-8600
SIETLĀ - piektdien, 24. aug., plkst. 19:30
  Sietlas latviešu garīgais un sabied. centrs – 11710-3rd Ave. NE Seattle, WA
  Rīko Latviešu biedrība Vašingtonas štatā – Iveta Felzenberga 253-517-3864
SANFRANCISKO - sestdien, 25. aug., plkst. 16:00
  Latviešu draudzes namā – 425 Hoffman Ave. San Francisco, CA
  Rīko Ziemeļkalifornijas Latviešu biedrība – Aldis Simsons 510-655-1419
LOSANGELOSĀ - svētdien, 26. aug., plkst. 15:00
  Latviešu Sabiedriskajā Centrā - 1955 Riverside Dr. Los Angeles, CA
  Rīko Dienvidkalifornijas Latviešu biedrība - Ivars Mičulis 818-585-5748
MINEAPOLĒ - trešdien, 29. aug., plkst. 19:00
  Minn.-St. Paulas lat. ev. lut. dr. telpās – 3152 17th Ave. S, Minneapolis, MN
  Rīko Latviešu organizāciju apvienība Minesotā – Maija Zaeska 763-972-2521
KALAMAZU - svētdien, 2. sept., plkst. 16:00
  Kalamazū Sabiedriskā Centrā - 100 Cherry Dr. Kalamazoo, MI
  Rīko Kalamazū un apkārtnes latviešu bied. - Imants Minka 269-873-1862
DETROITĀ - otrdien, 4. sept., plkst. 19:00
  Sv. Pāvila dr. sabied. telpās - 30623 W. Twelve Mile Rd. Farmington Hills, MI
  Rīko Latviešu apvienība Detroitā - Līga Jekabsone 734-426-8488
KLĪVLANDĒ - trešdien, 5. sept., plkst. 19:00
  Apvienotās draudzes namā - 1385 Andrews Ave. Lakewood, OH
  Rīko Ohaijo Latviešu apvienība - Maija Grendze 440-895-0647
TORONTO - sestdien, 8. sept., plkst. 16:00
  Kanādas Latviešu Centrā - 4 Credit Union Dr. Toronto, Ont.
  Rīko Latviešu Nacionālā Apvienība Kanādā 416-759-4900
BOSTONĀ - otrdien, 11. sept., plkst. 19:00
  Trimdas draudzes zālē - 58 Irving St. Brookline, MA
  Rīko Mākslas draugu grupa - Maija Priede 781-329-7491
VAŠINGTONĀ DC - piektdien, 14. sept., plkst. 20:00
  Vašingtonas draudzes namā - 400 Hurley Ave., Rockville, MD
  Rīko Latviešu organizācijas Vašingtonā - Anita Juberte 301-814-1080
ŅUJORKĀ - sestdien, 15. sept., plkst. 16:00
  Ņujorkas Latviešu dr. Jonkeru baznīcas telpās - 254 Valentine Ln. Yonkers, NY
  Rīko Ņujorkas Latviešu Organizācija - Baiba Pinne 917-270-4786
PRIEDAINE - svētdien, 16. sept., plkst. 14:00
  Priedainē - 1017 State Route 33 Freehold, NJ
  Rīko NJ Latviešu biedrība - Sarmīte Leja-Grigalinoviča 732-610-8227

Turneju rīko Latviešu kultūras biedrība ‘‘TILTS’‘
sadarbībā ar Amerikas latviešu apvienība, Latviešu Fondu
un izrādes vietējās organizācijas.

garasis50.
“D*mn, 135?. He woulda been an old dude, had he lived.”

Damn ... you beat me to a 135 year punch line.

The production finally got to this side of the country - that was some tour they had!  So, my reactions:

First of all, the puppetry.  It may be a cliche to some, but to me it seemed the opposite - “ok, we have this psychological/historical drama taking place in close quarters - how can we jazz this thing up?”  I found it distracting.  I also thought it was a shame that the puppet characterizations, especially the last one, were over the top.  The voice for Kirchensteins was right out of the Saturday morning cartoon villain vault.

One more complaint, and then I’ll turn to the positive.  I recognize that things have to be “larger” in theater, but there seemed to be a lot of blatantly theatrical moments - and I don’t mean the ones where the actors were lined up onstage for dramatic effect.  I mean during the (allegedly) more realistic interactions.  People facing walls during dramatic exposition, sudden yelling, making sharp corners while pseudo-marching… those, to me, were the cliched moments, not the puppetry.

Now the positive, and there was much more of that.  I’m sure I have heard/read these things before - the timeline of how events went down during those days.  But this brought them to life in a way I hadn’t felt before.  It also showed how Ulmanis’ actions and lack of actions lie between the extreme opinions out there.  There was no obvious right thing to do, and certainly no easy thing to do.  That the script was based on the memoirs of one of those involved made it more powerful to me… it wasn’t just the author guessing at what people might have been saying and doing.

I don’t often buy the little programmes at plays and didn’t do so going into this one.  This time, however, by the intermission I had so many questions about how much this is based on reality, how much on conjecture, that I shelled out the few dollars to see if that was addressed.  Wow.  This little pamphlet has the most concise, bullet-pointed factual summary of the events and people that I’ve seen.  It’s going in my bookshelf.  Of course there’s much NOT addressed, but it’s a great primer.

I thought the actors were all strong - the over-emoted moments I ascribe to the director.

More than enough said.  But… certainly Peteris and I weren’t the only ones here that saw it?