LATVIAN ROCKETS

Regnārs Vaivars • Director – Regnārs Vaivars

A documentary hero epic

"Latvian Rockets" is a performance that gives audiences a glimpse into the history of Latvian bobsleigh. The director created it through interviews with 21 people close to bobsleigh, shaping his own view of the events.

The beginnings of Latvian bobsleigh date back to the 1980s, when engineer and luge coach Rolands Upatnieks created the Soviet national team, which was 95 percent Latvian, from absolute scratch in a field where neither the USSR nor Latvia had this sport yet. Rolands Upatnieks's talent as an engineer and manager sparked a true revolution in this 100-year-old sport. The sleds he designed were known around the world as the "Latvian Rockets."

The performance will also use modern technology that can split the final seconds into a thousand particles, yet still cannot look into the mysterious bends of the heroes' souls. It will be a documentary epic of heroes for the Latvian people and a tribute to the memory of Rolands Upatnieks, who has passed away.

As the director emphasizes: "This performance is not about sport, but about Latvian men - BEAR-SLAYERS - folk heroes. Latvians can, could, and will be able to."

Grant, God, to climb the hill,

climb the hill,

not back down from the hill into the valley…

The performance was nominated for 5 awards in the 2023/2024 Spēlmaņu nakts season: "Best Large-Scale Production" (AWARD), "Director of the Year" (Regnārs Vaivars), "Actor of the Year" (Mārtiņš Kalita), "Scenographer of the Year" (Valters Kristbergs), "Lighting or Video Artist of the Year" (Mārtiņš Feldmanis)!

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Cast: Mārtiņš Kalita, Valts Skuja, Kārlis Artejevs, Artūrs Irbe, Kārlis Ērglis, Hugo Puriņš, Armands Kaušelis, Kaspars Kārkliņš, Sandis Pēcis

Assistant director – Mārtiņš Kalita

Scenographer – Valters Kristbergs

Costume designer – Madara Botmane

Choreographer – Regnārs Vaivars

Lighting designer – Mārtiņš Feldmanis

Video artist – Dainars Albužis

Premiere on February 17, 2024