Theatre
Fire and Night
Uguns un nakts
Rainis (Jānis Pliekšāns) · 1905
Synopsis
Lāčplēsis, the hero of the national epic, confronts the Black Knight, a figure of the German invader. At his side, Laimdota embodies Latvia, while Spīdola, the changeable beauty, at times allied with the forces of darkness, becomes for him a force that drives him forward. Among the traitor Kangars, Līkcepure, the ancient Latvians and the invaders, the drama extends the old legend to the life of the country over several centuries.
Context
The play was written in 1903 and 1904, mostly in the summer house at Jaundubulti, from an opera libretto competition that the text outgrew. It appeared in 1905 in the monthly Mājas Viesis, subtitled an old song to a new tune, and in book form in 1907 from Domas. Aleksis Mierlauks staged it in 1911 at the New Theatre in Riga, with Rainis advising on the staging from exile, and it was the first Latvian production to combine acting, sets, costumes, lighting, music and choreography in a single work. Nine further productions have followed, the latest in 2015.
Who it is for
A drama in verse. It is better to know that it takes up Lāčplēsis, the epic by Andrejs Pumpurs, giving it the scope of a national history.
Prizes and reception
Inscribed in the Latvian cultural canon as the finest example of Symbolism; the first Latvian play to reach one hundred performances, in 1914.