The guest of the cultural program “OP” was the actress and artist Liisa Saaremäel, who believes that the current state of the Estonian theater landscape is diverse and that there are many contacts and overlaps between classical dramatic theater and alternative performing arts.
“I’m interested in the sector between the two,” admitted the artist, who after graduating from the performing arts school worked for a few years at the state theater and then decided to get a master’s degree in contemporary performing arts. “The CPPM master’s studies at the theater academy were so intense that it was very difficult to continue working regularly in the theater. On the other hand, I also wanted to experiment on my own, to create some kind of project myself. Collaborating with people I otherwise wouldn’t have met,” she explained and added that from her master’s degree she received many tools to work with her body.
“What I do as an artist and when I’m in someone’s production as an actor, those things are intertwined and that kind of diversity is what I value most in the moment I’m in.” Saaremäel collaborated for example with Florian Wahl and their joint creation “Scream Box” in the Kanuti Gildi hall certainly had a surprising effect on a part of the audience.
“It doesn’t scare me when people leave the room. In fact, I’m happy that if they feel they want to leave, they take the opportunity. But doesn’t it also show that something has happened inside them anyway? Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing , I don’t address it separately, but there was definitely a certain sharpness on that stage,” Saaremäel said.
Inspiration can also be found in Saaremäe in what limits it. “Limiting is largely what comes from myself, certain fears… but just this fear of going somewhere can be a good indicator that this is really territory I’ve never been in before. That c ‘It’s really some question I haven’t had an answer to before,’ he added.
Liisa does not draw a concrete line between herself and classical theater or cinema and is open to various offers of collaboration. “I expect life to bring me interesting challenges, that’s how it is. I also believe that to invite something into your life, you have to create a certain kind of space for it. I think a story as such is not everywhere lost. It’s also an element that can be used in theatre, built around, inspired and can remain central. I really like stories.”
2024-01-13 12:33:00
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