NO86
PERIKLES

SHAKESPEARE/OJASOO/SEMPER

Our vessel is of Tyre, in it the king;
A man who for this three months hath not spoken
To any one, nor taken sustenance
But to prorogue his grief.

This is what Helicanos, the serious and noble advisor to Prince Pericles says about his master when they have arrived in Mytilene. The man who once cunningly tricked all his adversaries, found love and happiness, pinned down conspiracies and managed to want more than all others, now sails the seas of the world without hope to ever rediscover his lost passion. Yet as in every good fairy tale, so it must now be said: “But still…” Happiness is where you have forgotten it.

Pericles is a story written by William Shakespeare about how a good heart, the right choices and decisive will bring the goddess to you. Pericles is the young Prince of Tyre who is tested by the intrigues of kings, fateful shipwrecks, hopeless situations and abandonment by the gods, yet whose aspiration toward happiness is endless. His dream is not only the good life and aimless enjoyment, but rather absolute love and to be touched by the hand of the goddess.

Tiit Ojasoo’s stage production is about beauty and happiness, and the will and fortitude that lead to such beauty and happiness. The impossible becomes possible, the legless dance, and the hopeless sing. Sweat pours but the objective does not disappear. These people do not dream about what they are ordered to dream about: they make their dreams themselves.

This is a fairy tale and Estonia, but it is also Bollywood and silk, gods and harlots, the smiles of women and songs of men. Ene-Liis Semper’s stage design and costumes draw inspiration from various sources without concealing her memories of India.

Risto Kübar plays the title role, with other roles by Mirtel Pohla, Tambet Tuisk, Gert Raudsep, Sergo Vares, Inga Salurand, Rasmus Kaljujärv, Marta Laan (guest) or Lenna Kuurmaa, Marika Vaarik and Andres Mähar.

Premiere on 15 March 2008