Theatres in Estonia (0)

Theatres in Estonia
Native Estonian theatre , born in 1870 with the plays of the patriotic poetess Lydia Koidula, came into being on the crest of national awakening .
Its tastes were at first pretty simple , the favourite genres being folk comedy and romantic melodrama, although both also transmitted half-hidden social and political attitudes.
In less than forty years, in 1906, the leading amateur companies , the " Vanemuine " in the university town Tartu and the "Estonia" in Tallinn, could become professional, and in 1911 the "Endla" of Pärnu joined them .
Theatre became especially popular amongst Estonians in the second half of the 19th century . Before that time, theatre had mostly been staged in German for the benefit of the local nobility and merchants. Theatre in Estonian emerged in various song and drama societies, the strongholds of national thought . In the early 20th century, these societies turned into professional theatres, some of which, the national opera Estonia for example, function even today . The scheme from society to theatre is a general phenomenon, because all the present state theatres once belonged to societies.
Theatre played an important role in advancing and safeguarding the spirit of Estonians during both the period of last century's national awakening and the oppression of the Soviet regime. After the restoration of Estonia's independence, theatre lost its political significance and became one area of culture amongst many others . Nowadays, theatre has to prove its worth by means of art only.
Estonian theatre arts is a mixture of German and Russian theatre.
Theatres in Estonia, like elsewhere in the world, may be divided into three categories according to their form of ownership: state, municipal and private theatres.
One of the six state theatres in Tallinn is the Russian Drama Theatre. Although its repertoire is Russian, quite a number of Estonian classical plays are staged there . The audiences are mostly people of Russian nationality.
There are two music and dance theatres in Estonia: 'Vanemuine' in Tartu and the national opera 'Estonia'. The Vanemuine has its own drama company and is therefore the largest of Estonian theatres.
Theatres in small cities cannot be merely regarded as employers located far from centres and therefore the more valuable. The whole local cultural life is centred around them.
Other famous theatres are Estonian Drama Theatre, Estonian National Puppet Theatre, Kuressaare City Theatre, Old Baskin’s Theatre, Rakvere Theatre, Salong-Theatre, Tallinn City Theatre, Theatre „Varius“, Theatre NO99, Ugala Theatre, VAT Theatre and Von Krahl Theatre.
Also there are three schools in Estonia which provide higher education in drama. The oldest and most academic of them is the Higher School of Drama at the Estonian Academy of Music. The Viljandi Cultural College and the private school ' Theatrum ' at the Estonian Institute of Humanities.
Theatres provide work for about 2000 persons all over Estonia.
The future of Estonian theatre, which is fully dependent on the state purse, lies in the hands of politicians; they decide whether to continue subsidising the theatres. At the same time, a considerable part of the audiences are made up of young people. The fact that last year about 500 young people applied to the twenty places available at the Drama School, speaks volumes about the popularity of theatre in Estonia.