Holy Night 2 – Flo Kasearu, Riina Maidre, Marianne Männik, Oksana Tralla-Anger

The stage production Holy Night 2 is part of the side programme of the international exhibition Who Is Afraid of Motherhood (curator: Eda Tuulberg) at the Kumu Art Museum.

In the Estonian performative arts scene, Holy Night is a rare long-term project. The first version of the production was staged in 2013, and its sequel premieres in 2027, fourteen years later: almost a whole teenage life.

The first Holy Night was built around the question of how to go on being an artist while also being a parent. The second version focuses on the relationship with a teenager and on crumbling support structures. How do you support a teenager’s self-discovery without clouding it with expectations? How do you give a teenager space when the world offers none? And what if, instead of greater independence, the future brings greater dependence and a heavier burden of care?

The Ministry of Education, social welfare, the family doctor, the Republic of Estonia, the cancer treatment foundation, the child’s father and the old people’s home: will you please pick up the phone this time when I call? Or are you going to put me on hold again?

Flo Kasearu is an artist who lives and works in Tallinn and runs the Flo Kasearu House Museum. Flo’s works are essentially seasonal and exploratory, often with playful aspects, and use irony to address issues at grassroots level and to deal with topics such as public versus private space and the links between the monumentally permanent and the ephemeral. Parent of two.

Riina Maidre is a freelance actor, performance artist and special education teacher. Studied at the drama school of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, the Estonian Academy of Arts, the DasArts Academy of Theatre and Dance in Amsterdam and the University of Tartu. Has worked at the Estonian Drama Theatre, the Von Krahl Theatre and the Tallinn French Lyceum. The practice centres on long-term observation of people and nature, and on methods of support and intervention based on noticing, which intertwine the artistic with the pedagogical. Class teacher and parent of one.

Marianne Männi is an artist with a diverse creative background, whose path has led from ballet to visual art, music, performance art and film. Has also worked as a barmaid and a taxidermist, adding rather unusual dimensions to the experience. Alongside parenthood, tattoo art and pole dance have come into the picture, bringing bodily expression together with precision and creativity. Currently teaches ballet to young gymnasts, combining diverse experience to pass on movement to the next generation. Parent of two.

Oksana Tralla-Anger is an Estonian dancer, choreographer, stage director and dance teacher, whose work ranges from classical dance to interdisciplinary performative arts. Has staged productions at the Estonian National Opera and Ballet, the Estonian National Theatre Vanemuine, the Kanuti Gildi SAAL and other venues, and has collaborated with creative ensembles in Estonia and internationally. Currently head of the choreography curricula and associate professor of dance art at the Baltic Film, Media and Arts School of Tallinn University. Three-time laureate of the Estonian Annual Theatre Awards. Parent of two.

Stage directors and performers: Flo Kasearu, Riina Maidre, Marianne Männi, Oksana Tralla-Anger

Close relatives involved in the stage production: Iip, Emilia, Jakob, Mehis, Pääsu, Rafael, Vint

Stage design and technical solutions: Tõnu Narro

Lighting artist: Anton Kulagin

Project manager: Kerly Ritval (Kanuti Gildi SAAL)

Project coordinator: Magdaleena Maasik (Art Museum of Estonia – Kumu Art Museum)

Supporter: Cultural Endowment of Estonia

Co-producers: Kanuti Gildi SAAL, Kumu Art Museum, Flo Kasearu, Riina Maidre, Marianne Männi and Oksana Tralla-Anger

We thank all of our former and current men and grandparents.