2015 » Latvia » Section of Countries and Regions

The Submission

Vladislav Nastavshev’s exhibit develops upon his set design for Miss Julie (2012, Valmiera Theatre), based on the play by August Strindberg. This interactive installation integrates scenography, soundscape and live performance where interaction between the object and the performer is essential. A horizontal wooden plank balances on a vertical metal rod fixed to the floor. Kitchen utensils placed on top of the wooden plank counterbalance each other. The object is a symbol of the kitchen as a balancing act, a space defined by the elementary laws of physics, where Christine and Jean desperately try to hold the equilibrium and to preserve the order which they obey.

The Latvian exposition for PQ'15 has been designed by Vladislav Nastavshev, whose directorial debut on the Latvian stage in 2010 marked a new relationship between the linguistic and visual aspects of performance. This tension became the dominant force in his work, and challenged Latvian scenographic tradition. The director, stage designer and musician inhabiting Nastavshev seem to compete with each other for leadership in his work. Fortunately, in the end, each of these identities triumphs. Nastavshev takes great care to create an integrated work of art in which space is shared equally by performers, the set, objects, sound, and light. Using minimal yet effective means, he turns empty, unaltered stages into imaginary rooms where all relative constraints fall away. Nastavshev brings carefully selected, precise, and radically minimalist aesthetics back to the performance, whether it be a tea-pot suddenly spouting sand or an old-fashioned spotlight that elevates the actors’ realistic performances into visual metaphors. The impact of these metaphors is virtually universal. Nobody is beyond their effect, even if the audience is unaware of their influence or even resents it.

Since 2010, Nastavshev has worked in Riga, Tallinn, Saint Petersburg and Moscow, staging plays by great classic playwrights such as Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, and August Strindberg, or by Russian writers such Daniil Kharms, Mikhail Kuzmin, Yevgeni Kharitonov, and Fyodor Dostoevsky, as well as works by contemporary authors. For most of his productions Nastavshev also designs the set and costumes and the sound and lighting design. Last season, his performance Travelers by Sea and Land at the New Riga Theatre received the annual Latvian Theatre Award for best large stage production.

Oskars Plataiskalns (Production Manager)

Exhibiting artists / ateliers

• Vladislavs Nastavševs (Vladislav Nastavshev)

* 1978, Riga
Specialization: director, actor, composer, set designer, costume designer, lighting designer, sound designer
Education: Acting, Academy of Theatre Arts, Saint Petersburg; Directing, Central Saint Martins College of Arts & Design, London
Collaboration with theatres: Dirty Deal Teatro, Valmiera Theatre, National Theatre, New Riga Theatre (Latvia); Teater NO99 (Estonia); Gogol Center (Russia)
Additional information: His work is characterized by the use of cinematic methods, spatial and acoustic integrity, sensitivity and tension, and has introduced a new relationship between textual and visual dramaturgy to Latvian theatre.

Exhibiting works

• August Strindberg: Jūlijas jaunkundze (Miss Julie), Valmieras teātris (Valmiera Theatre), 2012, Director: Vladislav Nastavshev, Vladislav Nastavšev je autor výpravy a zvukového designu./Vladislav Nastavshev is author of the performance’s set, costumes and sound design. ; Identification of exhibit: object, part of the stage , live performers ;
  Comments: The exposition features the set for “Miss Julie”, staged by Nastavshev at the Valmiera Theatre, where he continues to explore issues of gender, sexuality and power. The set requires continuous interaction with performers to become a living creature that embodies equilibrium, tension and collapse.