First collection of Estonian plays in Romanian published by Teatrul azi

The first collection of Estonian plays in Romanian, Dramaturgie estonă contemporană (Contemporary Estonian Drama), was published in Romania, containing translations of works by Jaan Tätte, Mihkel Ulman, Diana Leesalu, Kaarel B. Väljamäe, and Mehis Pihla. The collection was compiled and translated by Raluca Rădulescu and published by Teatrul azi, Romania’s most important publishing house dedicated to drama.

“I chose one play written in each decade since Estonia regained its independence after the collapse of the USSR in 1991, and arranged them in chronological order to offer a possible picture of the evolution of contemporary Estonian drama, with the last years of the 20th century standing out, when many powerful plays were written, followed by a period of almost two decades in which a lot was written, without any peaks, but with a revival in the last seven to eight years. (…) The main criteria for selection in compiling this anthology were the translatability, intelligibility, and relevance of the plays for today’s Romanian audience, the widest possible range of themes addressed, the style and number of characters, but also the intention to provoke interest in contemporary Estonian and Baltic drama,” writes Raluca Rădulescu in the foreword to the collection.

The collection Dramaturgie estonă contemporană contains four plays:

• Jaan Tätte’s The Highway Crossing or A Tale of a Golden Fish (1997)
• Mihkel Ulman’s Way to the Wardrobe (2000)
• Diana Leesalu and Kaarel B. Väljamäe’s Dashes on the Doorhandle (2017)
• Mehis Pihla’s Business as Usual (2024)

The publication of the collection was supported by the Estonian Cultural Endowment’s Traducta program.

Dramaturgie estonă contemporană can be purchased from the Teatrul azi publishing house website.

In the photo: the cover design of the collection “Dramaturgie estonă contemporană”. Photo: Teatrul azi