Productions

Von Krahl Theatre’s epic "Gilgamesh or the Button of Eternity" was one the highlights of the European Cultural Capital Tallinn 2011 performing arts program.

In March 2012 “Gilgamesh or the Button of Eternity” was rewarded with 5 main prizes in Estonian Theatre Awards: best play, best director (Peeter Jalakas), best male lead role (Juhan Ulfsak and Erki Laur), best artistic work (Liisi Eelmaa), best original music (Erkki Hõbe).

Standing on the threshold of the world’s sunset, without sensing fear, I feel no remorse for any action. No smile has been excessive. No tear has been shed in vain. Every fit of rage has been creative. Death as such, as a thing in itself, is merely nonsense. The pragmatic’s line of escape. The thrashings of an indignant and timid personality.
These are the – as of yet – unpublished words in the autobiography of the philosopher and visionary Sigismund von Krahl.

When else but during the eve of the apocalypse and the golden age of the radical reform in values could the dreams of noble spirits meet in the secret battlefields and empathetic barricades of the inner cosmos. The biggest acts of heroism occur in the unseen depths of the heart. The most foolhardy heroes celebrate or disintegrate in the silence of the universe. Billions leave this planet without ever hearing of them. In order to stand against this intolerable injustice and to see the eternal return of heroism, the Von Krahl Theatre has pierced the fog of history with its clear and fearless eyes to see the most ancient wisdom that the quill has ever etched on paper and that the millenia have chiseled in living hearts.

Right to the very beginning – to the Babylonian heroic epic "Gilgamesh". The mother and father of all hero myths. The sanguine cradle and life-giving river of all reknowned heroes. This eternal epic will shine again in the Cultural Cauldron’s pit (Kultuurikatel, Põhja pst 27A) from August 16. The grand production by Peeter Jalakas will breathe life into bloody tyranny and invigorating love, into righteous anger and forbidden lust, into wild adventures and intimate musings. But most of all into the hero, his actions and his capacity to accept the consequences of these actions. What is the eternal life? Where is the button of eternity? And does a hero live forever or does he dissolve permanently in the moment?

Cast: LIINA VAHTRIK, MARI ABEL, RIINA MAIDRE, TIINA TAURAITE, JUHAN ULFSAK, ERKI LAUR, MART KOLDITS, TAAVI EELMAA
Idea and directing: PEETER JALAKAS
Dramaturgy: TARMO JÜRISTO
Technical director: ENAR TARMO
Music: EDMUND ERKI HÕBE
Video: EMER VÄRK
Artistic design: LIISI EELMAA
Lightning: OLIVER KULPSOO
Sound: RENZO VAN STEENBERGEN
Techinical arrangements: ENAR TARMO, OLIVER KULPSOO, JANNO "JOHN" JAANUS, KAIDO KIVITOA, ALLAN RÄIM, MARELLA ÕIS, MERETE VÄIN, HENDRIK-LAURI TINGAS
Make-up: KAIRE HENDRIKSON (GrimmSisters), KÜLLIKKI PERT (EyesWideShut)
DOP: PAUL KUIMET, JOOSEP KASK
Audio consultant: KASPAR BRANDT
Props: ANNE-MAI HEIMOLA
Producer: ANNIKA VAMPER
Graphic design: EMER VÄRK

In episodes: Slavoj Žižek, Carl G. Jung, Jacques Lacan, Zecharia Sitchin, Ken Wilber, Krishnamurti, Jean Baudrillard, Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Cornel West, Eckhart Tolle, Terry Eagleton, Ruymán Barceló etc.

Inspired by the epic "Gilgamesh", translated by Amar Annus.
Speacial thanks to: Taavo "Jimmy" Tiko, Kalle Veesaar

The production is in Estonian, with English subtitles.