“Behind the Dam” / Tammsaare Theatre

LAST PERFORMANCES! Author: Conor McPherson
Translator: Peeter Sauter
Director: Tiit Alte
Cast: Jana Volke-Valk or Ilona Sillamaa, Meelis Sekk, Andres Kask, Vane Üksküla (Salme Theatre), Kristjan Arunurm (Salme Theatre)
Set designer: Jana Wolke
Lighting and sound designer: Kristo Klausson
Poster, programme and tickets: Kristjan Arunurm

“A dam is usually a water structure built by people, intended either to block the flow of water or to impound water behind it (creating a reservoir), and to generate energy through the water flowing through it.” That is what our inexhaustible source of knowledge—Wikipedia—says.

A similar water structure has also been built near the Irish village whose pub we find ourselves in during this performance. Life here is quiet and routine; every piece of news is worth its weight in gold, and the weather dictates everything. Many have left, while those who remain try somehow to get by. But water is accumulating behind the dam…

On the other side of the dam, there may be another world—a world whose unity and abundance we have begun to lose. Dams do not occur only in bodies of water; they also form in people’s souls. Something accumulates there, and its release generates energy. What has accumulated in the souls of the people we see on stage today? What releases what has built up behind the dam, and what does this resulting energy do to these people?

Come and see…

The names of the characters in this story are significant. Here are their meanings:

Jack is derived from the name of Saint James. Jim comes from the name of Saint John. Finbar is an old Irish name meaning fair-haired or bright-headed. The name Valery is apparently derived from the name of Valerie de Limoges, actually a French saint associated with the cult of Saint James and a very popular saint on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, leading to the relics of Saint James. Brendan’s name brings to an Irish person’s mind Saint Brendan the Navigator, a fifth- or sixth-century monk whose journey, in a dream, to an island (the Promised Land) provided material for an exciting travel account. Upon returning from the journey, he did not return to his monastery but lived as a hermit in Limerick for the rest of his life. Niamh—in Celtic mythology: Niamh of the Golden Hair. She was the daughter of the sea god Manannán mac Lir. She fell in love with the poet Oisín, and they lived happily in the Promised Land, which was one of the realms of the spirit world.

The performance has one interval and lasts 2 hours.

Advance tickets:
Discount ticket: €18
Regular ticket: €23

Tickets at the venue, cash only:
Discount ticket: €20
Regular ticket: €25

The café and manor open one hour before the start.

Supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

Premiere: 10 June 2025, at Peningi Manor, Raasiku tee 1

Tammsaare Theatre on social media: https://www.facebook.com/tammsaareteater
Production page: https://www.tammsaareteater.ee/paisu-tagant/