Anna Brigadere
SPRIDITIS
A Fairy Tale in 2 Parts
Director, set designer - Reinis Suhanovs
Costume designer - Anna Heinrihsone
Lighting designer - Niks Cipruss
Movement artist - Linda Mīļā
Composer - Kārlis Tone
Cast - Rūdis Bīviņš, Aksels Aizkalns, Aigars Apinis, Gerda Embure, Rihards Jakovels, Māra Mennika, Inese Ramute, Klinta Reinholde, Sandis Runge, Diāna Krista Stafecka, Elīna Vāne, Kārlis Dzintars Zahovskis
In 1903, the Riga Latvian Theatre approached Anna Brigadere (1861-1933) with a request to translate a play that would be suitable for a Christmas production intended for the whole family. The writer, however, chose to write an original work, and thus came the first of her popular fairy-tale plays, Spriditis, which attracted great attention. For more than a hundred years, Brigadere's story about the nimble, curious, selfless boy with a big heart has continued to inspire new interpretations. But is the heart like a little diamond egg? To awaken his somewhat sleepy heart and break the horns of pride, Spriditis must overcome all kinds of obstacles, protecting Mother Wind's sons, freeing the children lost in the forest from Lutaušis, outsmarting Miser, and finally defeating the devil himself. Only then does the reward come - the realization that happiness did not have to be sought all that far away.
For director Reinis Suhanovs, Spriditis is a personal work about returning home. The more observant will notice that Suhanovs' Spriditis pairs well with his previous production at Valmiera Theatre - Blaumanis's The Lost Son, but this one will be a story with a happy ending. Unlike Krustiņš, Spriditis will be found!
"It will definitely be a performance for children about growing up and a child's adventure-filled entry into the adult world," says director Reinis Suhanovs.
A performance for children in grades 1 to 5.
*****
The performance was created with the support of the Boris and Ināra Teterev Foundation in Valmiera Theatre's 2026/2027 season.
With the support of the foundation, the following reached audiences in the 2026/2027 season: Fear and Misery of the Third Empire (director Indra Roga). In the 2025/2026 season: The Evil Spirit (director Inese Mičule), Medea (director Reinis Suhanovs), You Will Be Mine! (director Jānis Znotiņš), Tailors in Silmači (director Elmārs Seņkovs). In the 2024/2025 season: Romeo and Juliet (director Inese Mičule), Blue (director Māra Ķimele), Spriditis (director Reinis Suhanovs), Four White Shirts (director Jānis Znotiņš), and The Magic Mountain (director Toms Treinis).
The theatre's friendship with the foundation began in the 2023/2024 season - the theatre's centenary year, when four classics of Latvian drama were staged: Valmiera Boys (director Jānis Znotiņš), The Widow's Son (director Viesturs Roziņš), as well as the especially acclaimed Joseph and His Brothers (director Inese Mičule) and The Lost Son (director Reinis Suhanovs).
