Review: Witkiewicz's Infernal Bliss on the Endla Theatre Stage in Pärnu

On 7 February, Pärnu's Endla Theatre staged a new production of a play by Polish absurdist dramatist Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, directed by Ingomar Vihmar. The premiere took place in Endla's main hall and was reviewed in Sirp magazine.

On 7 February, Pärnu's Endla Theatre premiered a new production on its main stage based on a text by Polish absurdist dramatist Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, translated into Estonian by Hendrik Lindepuu. Ingomar Vihmar served as director and musical designer, Illimar Vihmar was responsible for set design, and Ivar Piterskihh created the lighting design.

The stage brings together actors from multiple generations of the Endla Theatre: Meelis Rämmeld, Astra Irene Susi, Carita Vaikjärv, Saara Nüganen, Priit Loog, Fatme Helge Leevald, Karl-Andreas Kalmet, Kati Ong and Nils Mattias Steinberg. The ensemble is diverse, and the production's pace and mood play out in registers characteristic of Witkiewicz-simultaneously social critique and grotesque absurdism.

Witkiewicz, also known by the pseudonym Witkacy, is one of the most distinctive voices in early twentieth-century Polish literature. His plays combine philosophical anxiety, sexual tension and apocalyptic social criticism-material that sets a high bar for a director but also offers extraordinary creative scope. A review of the production appeared in the cultural magazine Sirp.