Latvian Puppet Theatre chooses grandMA3
December 2018
The origins of the Latvian Puppet Theatre date back to 1942, when during World War II the National Art Ensemble of the Latvian SSR was created in the city of Ivanovo, Russia. It included a group of puppeteers, which performed for the evacuated Latvian citizens and soldiers.
The first puppet play in Latvia took place on 3 October 1944 in Daugavpils after the Red Army had entered Latvia, but the official founding date of the National Puppet Theatre of the Latvian SSR is 4 October 1944, when the former cinema Radio Modern at K. Barona street 16/18, Riga, was allocated to the newly formed theatre.
The founders and first managers of the theatre were the poet Mirdza Ķempe and writer-translator Jānis Žīgurs.
In 1946, a Russian troupe was created, which is still operating today, thus making the Latvian Puppet Theatre the only theatre in Latvia with plays for both Russian and Latvian audiences that promote social integration.
In 1954, the theatre staged its first play for adults called The Devil’s Mill (Velna dzirnavas), which was later followed by others. With topical subject matter and contemporary dramaturgy, the Latvian Puppet Theatre still continues in the same vein, attracting increasingly larger audiences that consist not only of children.
Rather than being a one-genre theatre, this contemporary puppet theatre is very diverse.
Even though a puppeteer’s key task is to give puppets and other objects soul, i.e. bring them to life, by using various puppetry techniques, the team of the Latvian Puppet Theatre keeps evolving and looking for new means of expression and technical possibilities for making every play special through the interaction of the actor’s speech, the doll’s movements and the surrounding ambience. Professional use of light, sound and multimedia is undoubtedly one of the prerequisites for it.
We are glad that the Latvian Puppet Theatre has already acknowledged the professional lighting control systems by MA Lighting and replaced the theatre’s grandMA and grandMA2 onPC lighting control solutions with the latest-generation lighting control system grandMA3 Light, thus staying loyal to this manufacturer.
It is important for us to ensure efficient operation of the new grandMA3 lighting control console, so, as per usual, the final stage of the project included training of the technical personnel.
Delivered equipment:
- 1 x MA Lighting grandMA3 Light - Light control console
