International Association of Libraries and Museums of the Performing Arts

Société Internationale des Bibliothèques et des Musées des Arts du Spectacle

Theatre Collections and their Practical Contribution to the Actual Stage Production

Antra Thrgane (Riga)

17. Internationaler SIBMAS-Kongreß / 17ème Congrès International de la SIBMAS / 17th International SIBMAS Congress, 1.-9. September 1988, Mannheim

Bericht / Actes / Documentation. Red.: Liselotte Homering. Mannheim : Städtisches Reiß-Museum, 1990. pp. 136-138

First I want to express my gratitude to the Organizing Committee and the chairman of the discussion, Professor Jean-Cléo Godin, for the opportunity to share experience in theatre research by representing among the other theatre museums in the world one in the USSR - the Ed. Smilgis Latvian Theatre Museum.

Already for twelve years science associates of Latvia have gathered materials in the house of the outstanding producer Smilgis and argued about how best to preserve for posterity this twinkling one-night art, how to convey and reveal to following generations the delight which our ancestors took in performing and viewing performances, how to create a theatre atmosphere at theatre exhibitions. Notwithstanding the fact that the wardens of museum funds would rather have their collections held in fund storages at appropriate temperatures, to preserve the theatre collections for future centuries, the theatre researchers strive to bring their collections to life, to involve them in theatre processes, to bring them closer to the public at large.

Now I would like to single out three main ways in which - according to our experiences -theatre collections may interact with contemporary theatre life:

1. Converting the museum buildings or memorial halls into a scene area as a setting for the performance.

I gather that this is what is practised throughout the world: The inner courts of historical castles and museum interiors are used as scenes for theatre productions. The memorial hall in Smilgis' house, for example, was used as a setting for a poetry show based on Federico Garcia Lorca's The Scream [El grito, in: Cante Jondo, 1921; Anm. der Red.]. Stage designer I. Blumbergs skillfully made use of the path leading up to the entrance as road symbolizing life, suffering and death. Jean Cocteau's heroes and King Lear came to life here as well; therefore we think that Smilgis Hall with its excellent acoustics might become our first one-actor theatre. This is one reason why we are interested in the exchange of experiences, and we would welcome foreign actors to perform here.

2. Properties of theatre collections being used in actual stage productions.

The Latvian folk instrument kokle (a string instrument of the lute variety) has become the symbol for the performance of a play by Latvian's greatest poet Rainis, I Danced, I Sang, which represents a summit in the history of Latvian theatre. It was in this production that Smilgis asserted himself as a producer whose credo was: simplicity, clarity, impassioned devotion. As the plot develops, the protagonist Tots, steeled in life's bitter ordeals, turns from a simple, life enjoying music maker into a hero who is able to sacrifice his life for the future of his people. "A song once sung will never cease" - the people's spirit - embodied in its artistic creativity - will go on living and manifesting itself throughout the ages.

And so since two years in the days of this performance the kokle has travelled from the museum to the theatre only to take up again its place of honour in the theatre collection the next day. A place it had earned by playing to audiences for twenty years. Thus it has become a link between history and today, between the generation of actors already passed away and the young audiences of the present. And today the tune of the song I Danced, I Sang, touched off by the kokle's strings, opens the performance every night at the Dailes Theatre, and I hope will shortly summon London audiences to its guest performances.

A melody from Rudolfs Blaumanis' play Tailors' Days at Silmachi, the most popular production of another theatre, the Latvian Drama Theatre, is also used as a signature tune there. It is in connection with this production, which has enjoyed nation-wide popularity for years, that we should speak about the third way of making practical use of theatre museum collections in actual stage productions:

3. The collection of a whole museum being used as stage design for open air performances.

Now I want to present you the museum that is devoted to one play and all its stagings, to Rudolfs Blaumanis' Tailors' Days at Silmachi, 1902-1986. The museum is located in a region untouched by civilization and was set up to commemorate the place where Blaumanis conceived the idea of writing this play at the turn of the century. This is a play which Germans and Austrians would call a "Volksstück", a play of the people and for the people, a play featuring types as real as life, brimming over with healthy country humour, with songs and dances and singing in, on the shortest night of the year, on St. John's Day. It is a play breathing a healthy sense of national identity, reflecting the way people perceive life and the world and showing their ethical principles: diligence, honesty, pride and, needless to say, the mainspring of all love. The play's content is well known to Latvians, old and young, and yet the theatres are filled to their capacities. Always cherished and fed by the people's love, denied and forbidden, the play reaches its climax particularly during open air performances on a stage which was set up here in 1986 in cooperation with the management of the local collective farm. There are two performances on the authentic "Silmachi" farmstead on St, John's Day, going on for two days.

Let us enter the "Silmachi"" museum room: the furniture, the stage properties, which were used in shows, and are mementoes of thirty years'service, have done their duty now on open air stage for three years.

By arranging this exposition we wanted the spectators to breathe in and to anticipate the atmosphere of the production that will be shown. We want them to identify themselves with the impersonators of their beloved heroes who are going to use the collection properties. Even the loaf of bread and the round of cheese have come from the stage and will return there hours before the presentation will begin. This communication with the properties is a sort of a prologue to the play, together with a coach-and-horse pulling up at the museum to take the stage objects back to do their duty on the stage.

And for a few hours the photographs of the actors who once impersonated Blaumanis' characters in this play are alone on the walls, telling from their frames the stories of their lives: There is the travelling Jewish vendor Abraham, the source of so much laughter for the children and also the reason for some fear. Nobody wonders why the old man has got on the top of the stove, for this and the following scenes with the stove going up are the most anxiously expected moments in the play - moments of bright good-natured humour and general kindness! And each time they seemed to be viewed for the first time. Before we witness the museum properties actually participating in the performance, let me tell you that their return to the museum also constitutes a ritual in which the audiences gladly engage. It is them who restore the exhibition, replace the sewing machines, the bed, lay the table, arrange the flowers. Kids like to hang the cradle and rock it a little; representatives of the older generation are allowed to linger a while, sitting around the household table while young folks go on with their St. John's Day's songs which they started around the bonfire at the end of the spectacle.

It is my opinion that such active involvement of especially the young spectators makes them share in emotions, to feel pleasure and sense of responsibility. 0 yes, I have not yet told you: there is no caretaker at the museum to make sure that the exhibits are not stolen. There are no glass cases, no linings-off. But these years have not seen one single theft. Quite the reverse there can donations and presents for the museum be found in the old time dowry chest, which for the Latvians is not a mere thing serving a practical purpose but also symbolizes Latvian spiritual heritage. And: there are the flowers. Plenty of flowers...

For the remaining minutes alloted to me let me invite you to participate in the play Tailors' Days at Silmachi, which was performed this summer on the 125th birthday of the author Rudolfs Blaumanis.

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