Young Souls

A human being is the most fascinating book in the world.

2018 marks the 140th birthday of (the beloved Estonian author) Anton Hansen Tammsaare. But even the great writer was young once. The first staging of Tammsaare’s Young Souls, a short story written in 1909, brings before us a short but crucial stage in the lives of six young people, when in the clash of ideals and life experience, everything seems at once possible and impossible, believable and unbelievable, calm and tempestuous.

Similarly to young Tammsaare himself, Aino Võsand, Karl Raismik, Arthur Kulno, Hilda Maasik, Õie Lillak and Rein Muhem do not yet live in the Republic of Estonia but in the Russian Empire. Having come from the country to the university town of Tartu, they try out their ideas of city life, the roles of men and women and the relationship between the society and the individual. It is easier to ask than to answer; still, all six of them have courage to keep asking and interpreting the grown-up world that waits to be explored and recreated.

How to live in a way that does not make you unhappy? Is marriage the end or the beginning? At what point do we actually realise that we are alive? The questions that interested Tammsaare are still relevant today, because fortunately, there is no end to those who ask. Fortunately.

Director Mirko Rajas: " I am inspired by Tammsaare as a writer for youth. The short story was written by a young Tammsaare but the topics and questions of the story are timeless. Questioning the essence of love, finding a partner, marriage - giving or taking, getting or forsaking... I think this story will touch a younger viewer as well as older viewer. Even when the answer does not appear instantly it is important to ponder."

Cast

Getter Meresmaa, Mihkel Vendel, Mart Müürisepp, Doris Tislar, Laura Kukk, Sander Roosimägi