The International New Theatre Festival Homo Novus centers its current program on gentleness, inviting audiences to pause amid information overload, examine their environments, and look inward. Festival organizers chose a swan as their symbol, designed by set designer Estere Betija Grāvere as a calm observer living between water, earth, and air. This year’s lineup features vulnerable, unpretentious performances that emphasize universal truths learned in early childhood, such as mutual respect and environmental appreciation.
Three Ballads, a Story and My Mother’s Legacy by Maike Lond Explores Creative Exhaustion
In director Maike Lond’s production Trīs balādes, stāsts un manas mātes mantojums (Three Ballads, a Story and My Mother’s Legacy), an erratic pile of blankets moves across the room and reveals a performer. Jansens actively manages his mother’s career by emailing festival curators to secure performance opportunities after her hiatus. During the show, Lond catalogs objects she plans to leave her son, noting that her past sexual encounters and a fish soup recipe will not be among the inheritances. “Those no one will inherit,” she states, though the performance touches on the inescapable shadow of death accompanying life.
MØR Collective Creates an Intimate Trailer Experience in Aiztālākārpus
Neiburga sits in a corner polishing black stones and uses pussy willow wands to touch participants, offering a tin can containing a sweet, viscous white substance. The ritualistic, psychedelic environment invites visitors to shed their outer lives and experience the world through a childlike lens.
Wauhaus Guides Audiences Through Graveyard Meditation in Garden Over a Grave
Finnish company Wauhaus presents Dārzs virs kapa (Garden Over a Grave), an emotional journey through the Great Cemetery guided by Elīna Vaska-Botere’s voice over headphones with dramaturgy by Tomas Lahtinen. Audiences move at an exaggeratedly slow pace, touching cold gravestones and noticing autumn leaf piles left by a recent storm that amplify the cemetery’s atmosphere. The experience reaches its emotional peak when participants lie on the ground with closed eyes, listening to a detailed description of bodily decomposition accompanied by the buzzing of flies. The performance concludes with a dystopian utopia where humans develop a sixth sense of compassion, projecting that 2026 will be the final year Earth is inhabited by humans.
Curious About the Festival Symbol
Did you know the festival’s swan symbol was chosen by set designer Estere Betija Grāvere specifically to represent a border state between water, land, and air?
Frequently Asked Questions About Homo Novus Festival Performances
What is the overarching theme of the Homo Novus festival?
The festival’s cross-cutting motif is gentleness, inviting audiences to pause amid information overload, care for the environment, and look inward through vulnerable and unpretentious art.
Who participates in Maike Lond’s performance?
Maike Lond performs alongside her son, Lukas Jansens, who assists her with technology and advocates for her career by emailing festival curators following her creative pause.
How many people can enter the MØR collective trailer at once?
The Homo Novus festival continues its tradition of presenting contemporary theater that challenges audiences to reevaluate their relationship with nature and modern speed.
Worth a look