The tickets for the Vanemuine Theatre’s new season are on sale

During the 153rd season of the Vanemuine Theatre, 13 new productions will premiere: seven drama productions and six music and ballet productions. There will continuously be several productions on the programme that have won the hearts of the audience, numerous concerts will please music lovers and many other special events will take place. The tickets for the new season are on sale on the Vanemuine Theatre website and in the theatre’s box office.

The 153rd season will be opened by a new production on the opera stage. On August 19, 2022, the libretto by Maarja Kangro and music by Tõnis Kaumann in the form of the opera „The Mall“ (Kaubamaja) will see its debut at the Vanemuine Harbour Theatre. Four figures meet at the door of a mystical and fabulous department store, puzzling over the world behind the magical sliding doors, what wonderful treasures the neon signs and beautifully flickering lights attract, and why no one exits the mall anymore.

On the drama stage, the first premiere takes place on October 1, 2022, when Edward Albee’s drama „Three Tall Women“ (Kolm pikka naist) will reach the audience at the Vanemuine Small Building. This is a story of a woman’s different life cycles and relations with her son with whom the last contact took place already many-many years ago. The play will be brought on stage by Priit Pedajas (Drama Theatre) who is back at the Vanemuine after decades gone by.

On October 22, 2022, Katariina Libe’s play „Sprouts“ (Võrsed) which won the first prize at the Estonian Theatre Agency’s 2021 drama competition, will be premiered at the Harbour Theater, directed by Tiit Palu. The play empathetically portrays the people around us today and focuses on topics such as orientation on career and self-fulfilment, sexual relationships, the search for intimacy and close ones, as well as infertility and having children.

On November 26, 2022, the Vanemuine Theatre ballet director Mare Tommingas will bring on the stage of the Vanemuine Grand Building one of the most legendary pieces of work in the world of ballet – „The Nutcracker“. Tommingas takes a second turn at the Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s „The Nutcracker“ – in 1994 premiered her namesake production. The new version „The Nutcracker – A Miraculous Christmas Eve“ (Pähklipureja ehk Imeline jõuluöö) will stay true to Tommingas’ original libretto but new courses of relationships, spectacular stage design and costumes rich in fantasy have been added.

On December 3, 2022, the drama audience will have a chance to enjoy the collaboration production of the oldest and youngest theatres in Tartu. Led by director Elise Metsanurk from Tartu New Theatre, William Shakespeare’s „Romeo and Juliet“ will premiere at the Vanemuine Theatre Small Building where Aivar Tommingas from the Vanemuine Theatre and Ilo-Ann Saarepera from Tartu New Theatre play the title roles. This is a story of forbidden love. Love is forbidden by all those who do not consider the age gap beyond half a century between Romeo and Juliet to be right.

The first half of the year 2023 will not fall short of what preceded. To raise the interest of the young people in music, directors Janek Savolainen and Katrin Pärn together with the Vanemuine Symphony Orchestra will bring Sergei Prokofiev’s musical fairytale „Peter and the Wolf“ (Peeter ja hunt), meant for children and the young, on stage at the Vanemuine Small Building on January 10, 2023. This is going to be a visual-theatrical music lesson that teaches children how to listen to music, which instruments belong in the orchestra and what sound they make.

As the first new production on the 2023 drama stage, the Martin McDonagh play „The Beauty Queen of Leenane“ (Mägede iluduskuninganna) will premiere, directed by Ain Mäeots, that tells a story of two women, mother and daughter, whose coexistence is a constant battlefield. The tragicomedy will premiere at the Harbour Theatre on January 21, 2023.

Director Priit Strandberg brings on stage Anton Tchekhov’s drama „The Cherry Orchard“ (Kirsiaed), which has become a classical repository of the newer Estonian theatre. The play reaches the audience on February 4, 2023, at the Vanemuine Small Building. The current Vanemuine production is the tenth stage version of the play in Estonia during this century, and is preceded by several famous productions from earlier times.

On February 18, 2023, the Vanemuine grand stage will be taken over by the children’s musical „Sipsik“, based on the book by Eno Raud and the visuals by Edgar Valter. Directed by Maria Annus who is a well-known drama actress, Sipsik reaches the Vanemuine stage for the first time in history to entertain children and their parents with its vocal cords made of thread.

On March 4, 2023, the director and choreographer Rauno Zubko will bring on the Harbour Theatre stage a dance production for the young – „Kriis.ID“. In this production, limits are explored and tested, and moral gets preached and destroyed. Self-images are sketched and watched as they crumble in the light of modern crises. Great fit for younger spectators together with their schoolmates.

In the authorship of Eduard Vilde and Tiit Palu, the comedy „Pisuhänd 2“ reaches the stage on April 1, on the International Fun Day. At the end of Eduard Vilde’s most well-known play „Pisuhänd“, there remains the possibility that the services of Tiit Piibeleht will still be needed. „Pisuhänd 2“ continues where „Pisuhänd“ ends.

As the season’s last new drama production, the drama „A Hundred Grams of Blue Sky“ (Sada grammi taevasina), inspired by the life and poetry of Artur Alliksaare, written and directed by Urmas Vadi, will be brought on stage at the Harbour Theatre. The production will premiere on the poet’s 100th birthday – on April 15, 2023.

On April 22, 2023, Eino Tamberg’s opera „Cyrano de Bergerac“, based on the play of Edmond de Rostand, will premiere at the Vanemuine Small Building, Mare Tommingas as director and Risto Joost as music director.

The Ballet Gala, the New Year’s Eve Ball and several concerts

During the 153rd season, the symphony orchestra will please music lovers with several concerts featuring compositions valued in the symphonic world. As the first concert, during September 2-4, the audiences in Tartu, Pärnu and Tallinn get to enjoy The Season Opening Concert of the Vanemuine Symphony Orchestra, with the soloist Tähe-Lee Liiv on stage and Risto Joost as conductor.

In November, the All Saints’ Day Concert will be performed for the first time, and we are also inviting you to enjoy the opera choir’s concert „A Time of Wonders“ (Imede aeg). In December, a traditional Advent concert will take place in Tartu Paulus Church. In December, opera lovers are welcome at the Opera Gala, where arias and duets from the World Opera Gold Fund will be performed. At the beginning of 2023, we will bring the best Estonian and world film music to the concert stage in Tartu, Pärnu and Paide – welcome to the Film Music Concert!

We will send off the year 2022 with the beloved Vanemuine Theatre New Year’s Eve Ball.

In celebration of the International Dance Day, the Estonian ballet unites its creative spirit and as an extraordinary opportunity, it is possible to see the ballet companies of the Vanemuine as well as the Estonian National Ballet in their entirety at the Ballet Gala. The evening will be even more festive thanks to the symphony orchestras of the Vanemuine and the Estonian National Opera, led by conductors Risto Joost and Arvo Volmer. The collaboration of the Vanemuine Theatre with the Estonian National Opera can be witnessed on April 29, 2023, in the Estonian National Opera and on April 30, 2023, in the Vanemuine Grand Building.

The Vanemuine Symphony Orchestra will end its season with a Season Finale Concert in different cities.

The Vanemuine Theatre repertoire, programme and information about tickets can be found at www.vanemuine.ee.

See you at the Vanemuine Theatre’s 153rd season!