On 15 and 16 February, the Theatre Ģertrūdes ielas teātris will premiere solo performance "hold me tight" by Artūrs Čukurs. A stage poem to objects and the force of gravity, made in aesthetics of visual theatre, is at once a personal story and a collective dedication to the memories we carry with us.
We often truly see things only when our relationship with them breaks down. A burnt-out light bulb, a smashed smartphone screen or a broken shoe heel make us realise how much we rely on the things around us and remind us of our interdependence. When a friendship ends, a long-lasting relationship breaks down or we lose a relative or loved one, we realise something similar: a breakup allows us to see what we have lost and appreciate it anew.
“hold me tight” is a fragment of the landscape of memories and a personal story about a heartbreak long time ago and a long farewell, necessary in order to seek new ways how to engage with the world and to be a part of it again.
"The performance is a collective dedication by the entire creative team to a very personal memory of a day that changed my life, leaving imprints that have had a great gravitational force on my subsequent experiences – they have shaped me and my relationship with the world around me. But the text is only one of the elements of the performance, woven into the movement, sound and visual composition," reveals the director and performer Artūrs Čukurs, "moreover, "hold me tight" is a solo performance only relatively, because besides me, it also involves a lot of objects, whose agency we have placed at the centre of the performance. The objects are active participants in the performance, inviting the audience to see ourselves as the sum of things, made up of the people, things and landscapes we encounter, the events we experience and the different textures, colours, sounds and moods we live in and carry with us."
Artūrs Čukurs is a Latvian theatre artist and musician working in various disciplines of contemporary performing arts. "Hold Me Tight will be his first solo performance. The director is working on the production together with dramaturge Sodja Zupanc Lotker, choreographer Alise Madara Bokalder, set designers Marta Madara Grantiņa and Beate Poikāne, and sound designer Alberts Levics.
The premiere in Latvian will take place on 15 and 16 February, while the premiere in English will take place on 14 March. The next performances in Latvian will take place on 12 and 13 March, 9 and 10 April. The production has been supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation.
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HOLD ME TIGHT
a poem for objects and the force of gravity
CREATIVE TEAM
director, performer: Artūrs Čukurs
dramaturge: Sodja Zupanc Lotker
choreographer: Alise Madara Bokaldere
scenographers: Marta Madara Grantiņa, Beate Poikāne
sound artist: Alberts Levics
visual identity: Aleksejs Beļeckis
producer: Ģertrūdes ielas teātris
premiere: 15/02/2024
Created with the financial support of the State Culture Capital Foundation.