The Daile Theatre of Latvia returns to North America for a 14-city tour in September and October, this time to perform the two-act comedy by playwright Jānis Jurkāns, “Dzīvīte, dzīvīte…”

The play, originally known as “Vistas” (The Hens), begins when someone steals the Debestiņš family’s hens. While the crime is investigated, Jurkāns’ play reveals that what really missing in the family is love.

Jurkāns’ comedy saw its premiere in the Daile Theatre in 2004.

Jurkāns, born in 1950, is the author of more than 20 plays and screenplays. According to the Web site of the Latvian Playwrights’ Guild, his plays focus on the individual and how they change. “Jānis Jurkāns looks at people without illusion,” the playwright’s biography states. Many of his plays are seen as dark, but Jurkāns sees them as light, because the characters are forced to look openly at their own lies.

Performing in the play are Olga Dreģe and Leons Krivāns as a pair of pensioners, Anna Debestiņa and Leons Fricis Debestiņš; Esmeralda Ermale as their daughter, Inese; Andris Makovskis as the policeman and Inese’s former boyfriend, Orests Feirāmis; Gunārs Placēns as Inese’s current boyfriend, Valdis; and Venta Vecumniece as the neighbor lady, Vizbulīte.

Directing the Daile performance is Juris Rijnieks, who has worked with the New Theatre of Rīga, the Liepāja Theatre and the Daile Theatre. Rijnieks directed “Dzīvīte, dzīvīte…” in 2004. This year he also has directed Lelde Stumbre’s “Laimīgā Blūmentāle” for the Daile.

Performances are scheduled:

• Sept. 7 in Massachusetts: At 7 p.m. in the Latvian Ev.-Lutheran “Trimda” Church of Boston, 58 Irving St., Brookline. The performance is organized by Mākslas draugu grupa. For further information, telephone Maija Priede at +1 (781) 329-7491.
• Sept. 8 in New York: At 7:30 p.m. in the Latvian Ev.-Lutheran Church of New York, 254 Valentine Ln., Yonkers. The performance is organized by the Council of New York Latvian Organizations. For further information, contact Jānis Riekstiņš at +1 (516) 674-8802.
• Sept. 9 in New Jersey: At 2 p.m. at the Latvian center Priedaine, 1017 Highway 33 East, Freehold. The performance is organized by the New Jersey Latvian Society. For further information, telephone Jānis Students at +1 (732) 836-9750.
• Sept. 13 in Ontario: At 7:30 p.m. in the Latvian Canadian Cultural Centre, 4 Credit Union Drive, Toronto. The performance is organized by the center. For further information, call Vizma Maksiņa at +1 (416) 759-4900.
• Sept. 16 in Ohio: At 1 p.m. in the United Latvian Ev. Lutheran Church of Cleveland, 1385 Andrews Ave., Lakewood. The performance is organized by the Latvian Society of Cleveland. For further information, contact Silvija Rutenberga at +1 (440) 205-9367.
• Sept. 18 in Michigan: At 7 p.m. in the Kalamazoo Latvian Hall, 100 Cherry Hill Drive, Kalamazoo. The performance is organized by the Latvian Society of Kalamazoo. For further information, contact Laima Kaugara at +1 (269) 353-4659.
• Sept. 21 in Illinois: At 7:30 p.m. in the Latvian House, 4146 N. Elston Ave., Chicago. The event is organized by the Latvian Society of Chicago. For further information, telephone Armands Birkens at +1 (773) 282-6510.
• Sept. 23 in Minnesota: At 1 p.m. in the Latvian Ev.-Lutheran Church of Minneapolis and St. Paul, 3152 17th Ave. S., Minneapolis. The performance is organized by the Latvian Organization Association of Minnesota and the church choir. For further information, contact Jānis Robiņš at +1 (651) 646-1980.
• Sept. 26 in Oregon: At 7 p.m. in the Latvian Center of Portland, 5500 Dosch Road S.W., Portland. The event is organized by the Latvian Society of Oregon. For further information, telephone Dace Garuta at +1 (503) 259-9557.
• Sept. 28 in Washington: At 7:30 p.m. in the Latvian Center, 11710 3rd Ave. N.E., Seattle. The performance is organized by the Latvian Society in Washington State. For more information, contact Jānis Kramēns at +1 (425) 941-2753.
• Sept. 29 in California: At 7 p.m. in the Northern California Latvian Ev.-Lutheran Church, 425 Hoffman Ave., San Francisco. The performance is organized by the Latvian Society of Northern California. For further information, telephone Emīls Elstiņš at +1 (925) 935-9769.
• Sept. 30 in California: At 1:30 p.m in Latvian Community Center, 1955 Riverside Drive, Los Angeles. The event is organized by the Latvian Theatre of Los Angeles. For further information, contact Ilga Jankovskis at +1 (818) 783-1437.
• Oct. 5 in Maryland: At 7:30 p.m. in the Latvian Ev.-Lutheran Church of Washington, D.C., 400 Hurley Ave., Rockville. The performance is organized by the Latvian Organizations in Washington, DC. For further information, contact Anita Juberte at +1 (301) 869-3127.
• Oct. 7 in Florida: At 4 p.m. in the Latvian American Center, 1705 9th Ave. N., St. Petersburg. The performance is organized by the Latvian Society of St. Petersburg. For further information, call Andris Ritums at +1 (727) 797-1933.

The tour is supported by the New York-based cultural society TILTS, which in 2004 organized the Daile Theatre’s North American performances of the Māra Zālīte play, “Zemes nodoklis.” Last year the cultural organization supported the National Theatre’s tour of North America with the Gunārs Priede play, “Zilā.”

 

Latvians who have left in search of work may be enticed back to the homeland by improving conditions in Latvia and by offering better communication with and about those living abroad, according to a plan of action outlined by the Secretariat of the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration.

The plan, forwarded Aug. 23 to the Cabinet of Ministers, is the result of work by a task force that examined the problem of tens of thousands of Latvian residents who have left the country in recent years in search of work. Many have moved to Ireland, the United Kingdom and other Western European countries, especially after Latvia in 2004 joined the European Union.

“The task force that prepared the recommendations is offering activities that can be realized,” Oskars Kastēns, the integration minister, said in a press release. “By putting these in action, in my opinion, we could affect residents’ return to Latvia and create such conditions that would advance current Latvian residents’ desire to stay in the country.”

Government statistics show some 60,000 Latvian residents have left the country in recent years. This has already led to a labor shortage in Latvia. In the next 10 years, the secretariat’s action plan notes, up to 200,000 more economically active residents could leave.

A series of measures is called for in the secretariat’s plan, and among the main ones is offering dual citizenship to children born to Latvian citizens abroad, Kastēns said. Support for dual citizenship is overwhelming, according to a recent unscientific survey by the secretariat. Dual citizenship, which under current Latvian law is not allowed, could also be extended to the non-Latvian spouses of citizens.

The plan of action, which suggests specific tasks for a number of government ministries, would first have to be approved by the government.

The plan has two general directions, the secretariat announced. One focuses on improving the work and living conditions in Latvia that may have served as causes for residents leaving the country. The other aims at improving communication and education with the goal of motivating Latvians to return or to not leave in the first place.

Further, the plan details six areas of activities:

• Monitoring: The government should update how it monitors the number of citizens who emigrate and return, should systematically research migration issues and should regularly exchange information about issues with Latvian nongovernmental organizations abroad.
• Public-private partnerships: The government should foster development of small business initiatives on the local level, gather information about professions that will be in demand in the next five to 10 years, foster partnerships between business and education, and provide support for new business and agriculture operations.
• Work environment: The government should help develop the work environment, offering support for employers who respect their workers, enacting controls to reduce under-the-table payments (known as aplokšņu algas), and stimulating the development of labor unions.
• Information: The government should insure the broad availability of information about employment opportunities in Latvia, work to strengthen Latvian identity among those living abroad, encourage participation in Latvian politics, and encourage positive thinking among Latvians abroad about opportunities in and development of Latvia.
• Social education: Recognizing that economic considerations are not the only reasons for emigration, the government should improve openness and tolerance in Latvia, improve understanding of the free flow of residents, inform people of the risks and consequenes of emigration, and stimulate patriotism and civic involvement.
• Reducing barriers to repatriation: To foster repatriation, the government should allow dual citizenship for children and spouses of Latvian citizens abroad, develop the repatriation program, review the tax system with an eye to encourging return migration, and improve how Latvia’s education system corresponds to the education systems of other EU countires.

To complete the tasks outlined in the plan, the integration secretariat calls for government ministries and agencies to work with nongovernmental organizations, businesses, the Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia and the Employers’ Confederation of Latvia.

Members of the task force who worked on the action plan included Kastēns; Jānis Kukainis, chair of the World Federation of Free Latvians; Dace Līga Lutere–Timmele, chair of the European Latvian Association; Viesturs Tamužs, chair of the State and Private Partnerships Association; Normunds Ābols–Āboliņš, vice chair of the Latvian Association for Latvians in Ireland; Jānis Andersons, head of the Rīga office of the World Federation of Free Latvians; Iveta Ļubļina, assistant director of State Employment Agency, and others.