THE CONFUSED CHILD

THE CONFUSED CHILD

Notes from an Expedition in Latgale

Research question: what is a Latgalian?

Tasks to be carried out: speak only Latgalian with the daughters; go on an expedition across Latgale and conduct field research; document the expedition; present the material to a wider audience.

Jānis Kronis grew up in Gaigalava, his first language is Latgalian, but he has spent most of his life in Riga. When his eldest daughter asks what a Latgalian actually is, he cannot answer. The result is an existential crisis, because all his life he has lived with the conviction that he knows who he is.

Method: presentation, notebook, two weeks on the road, and meetings with strange and less strange people.

"The Confused Child" is Jānis Kronis's monodrama in the Latgalian language about an identity that resists research and about a person's efforts to find their place in the world.

Premiere: September 20, 2026

Creative team:

Jānis Kronis, Jānis Golubovs, Klāvs Mellis, Elīna Pērkone, Valters Karlsons, Aleksandrs Lisovs

Translator: Edīte Laime

Producer: Ance Strazda

Technical producer: Reinis Boters

Special thanks: Agris Bitāns.

Supporters and partners:

State Culture Capital Foundation, Riga Circus, Irver, Mellis Group