As december unfolds, Latvia’s theater scene is brimming with seasonal performances, from conventional concerts to innovative new productions. This year, critics are offering their assessments of the holiday lineup, providing audiences with insights into a diverse range of shows across the country-including reviews from Liepāja and Riga. These critiques offer a glimpse into the artistic choices and emotional resonance shaping Latvia’s cultural celebrations this season,published originally by kroders.lv.
Latvian Theater Critics Weigh In on Holiday Season Performances
December is traditionally a busy time for Latvian theaters, with a flurry of premieres alongside regular season productions – many dedicated to the holiday season. This year’s offerings range from classic festive concerts featuring beloved actors and rising stars, to themed productions and eclectic shows that blend various elements. To help audiences navigate the holiday lineup, critics have shared their insights on the latest productions hitting Latvian stages.
The Scent of Gingerbread at the Liepāja Puppet Theatre
Rasa Maija Armale: The Liepāja Puppet Theatre is bringing joy to families and especially the youngest audience members with “Reiz svētku beķerejā” (Once Upon a Time in a Holiday Bakery), directed by Lelde Kaupuža-Čarnecka. The director skillfully balances emotional highs and lows, offering moments of laughter and empathy. Children are a wonderful mirror to this, reacting genuinely to everything happening on stage, confirming that belief in holiday magic is still alive. However, the production’s success seems to lie in the synergy of the creative team – just as it’s evident in the message of the characters, everyone’s contribution was significant. The subdued lighting by Jānis Brašs complements the cozy winter wonderland created by artist Agneses Kauperes’ set design. The scenography is particularly successful with a circular pathway at the heart of the stage, used not only for entrances and exits but also to reveal a dynamic and idyllic landscape, adding depth to the scene. The playful energy is further enhanced by the musical score created by Renārs Kaupers and the lively choreography by Elīna Lankovska-Ķeķe. The lyrics cleverly incorporate layers of meaning, allowing both children and their parents to find something familiar and smile. Both actors fully embody their roles, gradually revealing how friendship blossoms. Liene Gāliņa portrays the stern elf mother Kūka, while Pēteris Lapiņš plays the free-spirited elf Pudiņš. Together, they also bring to life the uninvited, yet eagerly anticipated, guest – the mouse, who, like Remy from Ratatouille, proves to be an excellent kitchen helper.
It’s particularly noteworthy how the production addresses serious themes with ease, revealing that gruffness is often a protective shell hiding loneliness overlooked in the brightness of the holidays. The conflict between generations is also a significant motif. The meeting of old traditions and new innovations in the finale leads audiences to the realization that embracing change allows us to learn from each other and achieve the best results. The aftertaste of the production is warm, the air filled with the aroma of gingerbread, and the sound of children’s laughter – the holiday spirit is truly present!
A Collage with a Moral at Chekhov Theatre
Atis Rozentāls: Holiday concerts are a genre where we don’t usually expect a particularly brilliant dramaturgy – it’s a sequence of songs with a more or less thematic focus, designed to create a festive feeling, and therefore optimism or sincerity usually prevails. The Mikhail Chekhov Riga Russian Theatre adds a directorial debut outside of Liepāja Theatre by Mārtiņš Kalita to its long-running concert – dating back to 2019, and now titled “Reiss 2025 – 2026”. The 90-minute concert performance “Ceļojums pusnaktī” (Midnight Journey) was written by the theatre’s staff dramatist, Artūrs Dīcis, and features a relatively simple fairytale-like dramatic structure, involving a sad person meeting a magical figure who can turn time forward and backward. Ivan Streļcovs and Oļegs Teterins are essentially in the leading roles, their dialogue driving the plot. The starting point of the fairytale plot is the question of how it feels to be born on December 31st, when your birthday is always overshadowed by New Year’s Eve celebrations. But the main moral of the story is the “here and now” philosophy, encouraging us to appreciate the present moment, not living in the past or the future.
This rather freely interpretable thematic axis has brought together a diverse range of musical numbers with no particular connection. Some of the musical material attempts to follow the proposed plot, associating the hero’s childhood with rather old Soviet musical heritage, but eventually the concert numbers simply follow each other without explanation (I found the interpretation of the Italian partisan song Bella ciao with a cheerful entertainment video in the background rather confusing). There’s a stylistic, thematic mix and a linguistic jumble, and the songs aren’t translated in the credits, but briefly summarized in Latvian and English. There’s a dramatic ballad about Roxanne from “Moulin Rouge!”, an ABBA hit Money, Money, Money, a humorous parody of the boy band Backstreet Boys, two songs in Latvian and one in Ukrainian. There’s Veronika Plotņikova’s powerfully performed “Woman Who Sings” from Alla Pugacheva’s repertoire. And more, and more.
Aigars Ozoliņš’s central scenic element is a huge clock, which interacts with Jaroslava Kaščejeva’s video ideas and Leila Muhamatgalijeva’s lighting design. A “live” ensemble plays, while the musical side of the songs was prepared by Ludmila Mogiļevska. The actors sing and move skillfully in Liene Gravas’ choreography, and they are required to quickly change into the costumes prepared by Ilze Vītoliņa. In addition to the theatre’s actors and invited artists, four students from the Riga Dome Choir School also participate.
Beautiful Packaging at the Liepāja Theatre
Vēsma Lēvalde: No matter how commercialized Christmas has become, it still reminds me of the gift I most looked forward to as a child – a package of sweets tied with a bright ribbon, presented by a man with a white beard, smelling of a Christmas tree and twinkling candles. It doesn’t matter that most of the package contains cheap crackers, because there are also a few juicy mandarins and some chocolate candies, and if it’s wrapped in golden paper and tinsel! Similarly, one could describe the Liepāja Theatre’s Christmas concert “Dāvātprieks” (Gift Joy), where each of the concert’s creators and participants has put in what they like best. For one, it’s the lyricism of Shipsea, which would require a nuanced arrangement and academically flawless vocals; for another, it’s a rock song skillfully sung with a touch of irony and grotesqueness, or Jānis Lūsēns’s sacred composition, but perhaps the winter makes you long for Zigmars Liepiņš’s “Ķiršu lietus” (Cherry Rain) or Haralds Sīmanis’s “Ezeru” (Lake), causing the audience to literally burst into applause.
The first part of the concert is structured around the actors’ own chosen song and a speech to the audience. The second part features more humor, a more dramatic arrangement of performances, and a more mischievous theatricality, which resonates well with the concert audience, many of whom spent the intermission in the buffet. It’s no secret that concerts are a “market commodity” for theaters, requiring few rehearsals and a small budget, but generating as much revenue as possible. This justifies the attempt to appeal to all tastes, and there’s nothing wrong with eclecticism as long as it’s professional and within good taste. The Liepāja concert balances on a knife’s edge admirably, and the performance of Sējāns/Plūdonis’ “Rūķīši un Mežavecis” (Gnomes and the Forest Man) could even earn a nomination. The only thing I can’t justify is replacing the refrain “dim, dim” in Arvīds Žilinskis’s song with Dzidra Rinkules-Zemzare’s lyrics “Svētki ledus pilī” (Holiday in the Ice Castle) with “pim, pim”, which only makes a few audience members giggle. I also don’t know if Raimonds Pauls and Leon Brišs’s “Tad, kad mēs iemīlēsim” (When We Fall in Love), which is one of Credo’s hits for Liepāja, should be performed in Žorža Siksna’s pop style. However, the visual image of the concert undoubtedly deserves applause – with minimal means, Aurika Feldmane has created a truly dazzling and expressive stage, Kristīne Bernarde has dressed the actors like Hollywood stars, and Viesturs Anderson’s lighting design makes you feel like Cinderella at a ball. The “Dāvātprieks” holiday package has everything you need – some good chocolate candies and a beautifully glittering wrapper.
More to come!
