The fourth performing arts festival Ümberlülitus/ Switchover will take place this year from 14 to 18 May, with five different productions performed across the city of Tartu over five days. The festival brings a fresh spring breeze in the form of co-productions from the 24th season of Kanuti Gildi SAAL and a foreign guest. The productions included in this year’s program deal with concepts such as surveillance society, social media, community activism, queering and feminism, and the traditional basic elements of performing arts – body, sound and movement – are aslo represented.
The festival will feature Keithy Kuuspu and Liisa Saaremäel with their recently premiered production “Millest on tehtud väikesed tüdrukud”, Liisbeth Horn, Kärt Koppel and Anumai Raska with their production “Roti Rumba”, nominated in the theatre awards’ performing arts category, and Lauri Lest, Andrus Aaslaid and Lisette-Marie Viilup in a sounds experimenting evening of short plays “SAAL3 vol 3”. You can also see “SÜTITAJAD” (IGNITORS), of Sveta Grigorjeva, and a foreign guest from Switzerland, this time Teresa Vittucci with her production “HATE ME TENDER”, which thoroughly recodes the archetype of the Virgin Mary.
Between the performances, a discussion group “SWITCHING: artistic communities” will take place, bringing together leaders of different communities who are involved in the arts, whether it be theater, visual arts or artistic community activism. The discussion group will examine what ignites these community activists, how these communities have formed and what they have achieved together. Stina Leek (Ajuokse), Paul Lepasson (SÜNK) and Mia Tamme (Daylight Projects) will speak.
This year, the switching will be preceded by the festival’s introductory event PRE-SWITCHING: literature x performing arts, within the framework of which artists, performers and directors who work with both the stage and the written word will present their literary creations. The participants are Sveta Grigorjeva, Liisbeth Horn, Kärt Koppel, Getriin Kotsar, Heneliis Notton, Jarmo Reha, Astra Irene Susi and Kristel Zimmer. PRE-SWITCHING is held in collaboration with Kanuti Gildi SAAL and the literary magazine Värske Rõhk and is part of the Prima Vista literary festival program.
Tickets and festival passes are available at Fienta.