Name: BTO: Lehtna/Blūma/Krūmiņa Monstera Deliciosa
Start: 2025-04-12T15:00:00+03:00
Location: BARKER-teatteri, Turun vapaan taiteen näyttämö

$BTO: Lehtna\/Bl\u016bma\/Kr\u016bmi\u0146a Monstera Deliciosa$

12.04 at 15:00 in Barker
Monstera Deliciosa is a creeping vine with huge, serrated leaves that has been a popular decoration in clinics, schools, libraries, apartments and private homes for more than 30 years. Under favourable conditions, the monstera grows rapidly and expands to fill the space around it. Nurturing plants and the well-being of others – the invisible day to day work of care is also carried out by the women around us, filling the empty spaces in the social landscape. “Monstera Deliciosa” brings together on stage four women from different generations to tell their own stories while singing the stories of other women. In a densely packed soundscape coexist the everyday worries of a public toilet attendant and the environmental concerns of a young ecofeminist, the desire to balance and strengthen the sometimes fragile bonds that unite and hold us together. The libretto was created by meeting and listening to women living in Latvia and Estonia who take care of plants and people around them in their daily lives, while the original music was created by transforming the genre of chamber opera through the tradition of choral singing that Latvians and Estonians share. Between the black earth and the plastic flowers, the creative team is looking for ways to grow, flourish and be with each other in the world we inhabit.
"Monstera Deliciosa" was nominated for two Latvian theatre awards (for best small form work and new musical work) for the season of 2023/2024.
Barbara Lehtna, Līva Blūma, and Linda Krūmiņa started working together in 2022. The collective focuses on Eastern-European feminist narratives and seemingly insignificant everyday stories of regular women who's voices are often left unheard . The collective explores themes of social class and climate crisis, creating intimate yet transformative experiences for audiences. Their work blends operatic traditions with contemporary issues, creating spaces for dialogue. As of now, they are busy creating their second contemporary chamber opera “Cantus Firmus” which will premiere in October 2025.
www.barbaralehtna.com
Directed and libretto by: Barbara Lehtna (EE)
Dramaturg, assistant to the director: Linda Krūmiņa
Composer: Līva Blūma
Music and sound director: Lilita Dunska
Set and costume designer: Karolina Poska (EE)
Assistant to the set designer: Signija Joce
Lights: Jūlija Bondarenko
Soloists: Kristīne Fedotova, Ilze Kalniņa, Marta Lortkipanidze, Kristīne Medne
Piano: Līga Paegle
Percussion instruments: Karīna Mazūra
Latvian translation of the libretto by Anna Auziņa
Produced by: Ģertrūdes ielas teātris, alternative chamber music festival "Sansusī", Real Life Company (EE), Paide Teater (EE)
Duration: 70 min
Age recommendation: 16+
Language: Latvian, English subtitles
Tickets: 20€/16€/12€
https://ssl.eventilla.com/monstera
Baltic Take Over (https://baltictakeover.com/) is a performing arts festival co-curated by the New Theatre Institute of Latvia, Kanuti Gildi SAAL, and the Lithuanian Dance Information Center, this time in collaboration with Tehdas Teatteri and the New Performance Turku Biennale. Baltic Take Over is made possible in collaboration Ehkä-production, Barker-Teatteri, Viinatehdas and Aurinkobaletti. Baltic Take Over 2025 has been supported by Baltic Culture Fund, Nordic-Baltic Mobility Grant for Culture, Embassy of Estonia in Helsinki and Estonian Ministry of Culture.