Performing history, staging identity : strategies of contemporary theater in the Baltic states

Abstract

The emergence of new modes of representation in contemporary Baltic theater can be conceptualized as self-reflexivity and counter-canonical representations. These tendencies are closely linked together. They deal with the transformation of notions about language, body and perception in contemporary culture and critical theory as well as local models of theatrical representations. This analysis is based on the works of three stage directors who represent the young generation of Baltic theater: Oskaras Korsunovas (Lithuania), Alvis Hermanis (Latvia) and Tiit Ojasoo (Estonia). Their performances are symptomatic of the post-Soviet period, in which transitional identities are constructed and the new scripts of social past and future are performed. The article examines the strategies that are employed by these stage directors in dealing with history and identity.