WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN THIS?

• •Director - Inga Ungure

A culinary epic

To his mother he was a rascal, to the chefs at the restaurant "Vincents" - the boss, and to his closest friends - the old crab. Born in a refugee camp, raised in the iron ore mining town of Corby, and having worked in Canada, Jamaica, and Saudi Arabia, when chef Mārtiņš Rītiņš arrived in Latvia in the early 1990s, nobody here knew him yet, just as they did not know Caesar salad, sushi, or beef tartare. He was 42 years old, with several lives already lived behind him and one more ahead.

Along with him, recipes and ingredients that we had not known before entered the Latvian menu, and those we had forgotten about came back. He provoked, amused, irritated, inspired, and taught us to take salmon out of the fridge even when there was nothing at home. And until the very last moments of his life, he kept looking for new heights, looking for what could still be better.

This is a story about a person's life and the role food plays in it - from mother's milk to dinner at an expensive restaurant, from the family holiday table to banquets for the world's most influential politicians. A pinch of salt and pepper, and there is only one thing left - to enjoy this together with you!

The production was created inspired by Mārtiņš Rītiņš's cooking show archive, the memories of those around him, Linda Apse's book "De Profundis - Mārtiņš Rītiņš", and Astrīde Rozīte's book "A Cookbook for Mārtiņš. People Who Have Met Me".

---

Co-creators and performers: Rolands Beķeris, Gatis Maliks, Agnese Jēkabsone, Polina Čerņenoka, Mārtiņš Kalita, Santa Breikša, Armands Kaušelis, Valts Skuja, Kārlis Artejevs, Hugo Puriņš

Playwright - Laila Burāne

Set designer - Austra Sniķere

Costume designer - Berta Vilipsone-Ieleja

Movement artist - Kristīne Brīniņa

Composer - Edgars Raginskis

Lighting designer - Mārtiņš Feldmanis

Premiere on May 23, 2026