Tonight, April 2, in the Great Hall of the New Riga Theater, the premiere is not of a new play, but of the film “Where the Theater Lives”.
“The concert film is an attempt to capture the special atmosphere that reigned in the historic building during the first 20 years of JRT’s existence and continues to reign today,” its annotation reads. “Days and nights, flowers and applause, laughter and tears, and of course actors.”
The composer Jēkabs Nīmanis is the author of the music for the new concert film directed by Gat Šmitas. The film uses the soundtracks of JRT shows and also melodies of other authors, but the intonations of Nīmanis’ music form the “backbone” of the film. He says: “This music resonates with me very much, because it is all related to my growth, I have established myself as a composer here. Ready to work there was more to this film than work – it was also a look back at yourself, looking for what you want to remember and show. A lot has happened to me here, and I’m glad that this feeling was also important to Gat in the film.”
Director Gatis Šmits, on the other hand, remembers that the idea for the film was born when it became clear that the theater building must be repaired and modernized. But also its past, with the imprints of the Fine Arts Theater led by Eduards Smilģas and then the Youth Theater of Ādolfs Shapiro, and, finally, with the beginnings of the success story of the New Riga Theater – is so valuable that we wanted to leave some testimony to future generations.
“During the entire hundred-year history of this building, there is very little photo and video material – literally a few photos of performances, television interviews in the wardrobe. But the material where you could get an idea of what the house was like, what the famous pipe shop, backstage, make-up shops, hairdressers with the hundred-year-old patina… This house had not been seriously repaired since the fire in 1931,” says the director.
In 2016, he decided to prepare a small newsreel for the future: “For a few days, we filmed behind-the-scenes, everyday life and portraits, we tried to make the most important rooms reveal themselves through actors or something like that.”
The material turned out to be so interesting that we managed to get the support of the National Cinema Center for further work.
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