The Flower Sellers Got Cold

The Flower Sellers Got Cold
A musical documentary nostalgia

Director: Laura Jaanhold
Authors: Ott Kilusk and Laura Jaanhold
Set designer: Illimar Vihmar
Music by: Feliks Kütt
Vocal coaches: Toomas Voll and Feliks Kütt
Lighting designer: Ivar Piterskihh
On stage: Ireen Rennik, Kadri Rämmeld, Karin Tammaru, Tambet Seling

In the heart of Pärnu, right near the place where the Republic of Estonia was once proclaimed, stands the Pärnu flower market: a cluster of kiosks where, for generations, people from Pärnu have been able to buy flowers around the clock—to convey their most beautiful wishes, beg forgiveness or pay their respects.

The Flower Sellers Got Cold is a true-to-life story based on memories and interviews, about the flower trade in Pärnu and how it has changed alongside society and the way of life. We look beyond the flowers—to what the flower sellers see and think. We have tried to imagine what they dream about: if a flower seller’s soul were to sing, what would the words and tune be? Or, as director Laura Jaanhold puts it: “We treat this flower market as an artefact that may not be placed on a high pedestal in cultural history, but we place it there. Because it is something that gives a culture and an era their face. We bring the Pärnu flower market into the theatrical setting and strip away its usual surroundings. And it seems to me that what emerges is interesting.”

The production’s title, The Flower Sellers Got Cold, is the opening line of Juhan Viiding’s poem “Latern” (“Lantern”).