At the beginning of April, Talsi will experience a special premiere – young people have dared to stage the powerful Raini’s play “Pūt, vējini!”. For those who have already noticed the talented young man Mikas Krastiņas from Talsi, it is no surprise that he does absolutely everything himself – from drawing costume sketches to directing the show. The premiere will also be judged by the teachers of the Talsa State Gymnasium, because Mikus is one of the seven young people from this school who chose to implement creative work in the new course “Project Work” introduced by the “School2030” project.
At the moment, one of the last rehearsals is going on before the responsible premiere on April 6, from the outside it is obvious that the young people are united as one fist. Before the performance, the feeling of butterflies in the stomach also passes through a little sadness – the theater group “Es and We” will graduate this year, so this is the very last staged performance. That’s why “Blow, windy!” was also chosen. – let the conclusion be powerful. Krastiņš: “I had the idea of ”Blow, the winds!” for a long time, but I thought – no, I would stage it only when I was a bit older. But then I started to understand why not. Why not give it a try, I like a challenge. And even more so if I have the opportunity to talk about topics that are still relevant today through this play.”
The young director wanted to talk about the power of a woman and a man, also the power of enchantment and love, daring and submission. Mikus understands that “Blow, windy!” many have already seen it, so everyone has their own idea of the show. He has been in search of a scenography idea that would allow him to be different. Until he came to a large millstone. Krastiņš: “Just like these characters in the play, we, the Latvian people, were and still are like grains among the millstone of life. And we are subject to its direction. I won’t say ahead of time how the show will end, but that’s about it. Comparing it with the situation that is happening around us in the world, I realized that in reality Rainis was already talking about such topical topics at that time.”
For the first time, the director collaborated with the composer in the production of the play. But the show is created by a team of ten young people – from actors to technical staff. Kristiāna Paula Eglite, who plays the role of Baiba: “Mikus is really a very intelligent person, and I would say that the future is really predictable for him as a director. Because he is really able to do such a big, voluminous, heavy show at the age of 18.”
Artus Šimkēvičs, who plays Ulda: “He is very persistent. He notices in actors what they have in common, those qualities they can bring out on stage. He works very well with the stage layout, because he is not only a director, he is essentially many things. For example, among the big actors, we still have props, those who write the script, but Mikus as a director is quite universal.”
Mikus shows a very thick folder, in which the production of the play is recorded in detail, he also conducted research on Rainis’ play in various aspects, because “Pūt, vējini!” is project work that will be graded by teachers. Ilze Osipova, a teacher at Talsi State Gymnasium, is proud that several other young people have published books as creative works, but she is especially proud of the young director. “I think that this show is special with its Latvianness, with the special music that has been composed for this show. I told the young people to look again at what the young people themselves are capable of doing, without the participation of adults. It’s worth looking at and being inspired by them.”
The young people have already experienced the first test performance in Virbos, next week the main premiere is expected in Talso, but it is already clear that they are also waiting for guest performances in Pastende, Roja and Kandava.
