Ird Kaarel

Every day, whether or not he has a rehearsal, Ird comes to the theatre by ten in the morning and leaves after the show in the evening. He works all day. He doesn’t just “direct,” but really works – in Tartu, you might believe that theatres don’t need a director at all, but rather a workman. (One day, Ird was asked at some banquet, “Surely you don’t really not drink at all?” He started laughing: “I would drink. But I don’t have time.”) Whenever you come to Tartu, Ird is always in the middle of some argument or battle. He teaches, trains, curses, suffers, fights, wins – and so on and so forth, every day. Vanemuine is his baby, his homeland, his life, his children, his toil, his work, his past and future.