WALKING ON WATER / Kuressaare Theatre

A psychological thriller about guilt and responsibility.

The play is set on the day of the election of the bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, where the author chooses a female clergyman as one of the candidates. After a funeral service in the church, she meets a young journalist who has come to interview her for a feature story. The conversation extends into a one-and-a-half-hour dialogue, during which the characters' different views on religion and their past grievances gradually unfold. This gives the author grounds to define his play as a psychological thriller about guilt and responsibility. 

Bengt Ahlfors (born 1937) is a fairly well-known Swedish-speaking Finnish playwright and director in Estonia, who has also served as the principal director of several Finnish theaters, including the Helsinki Swedish Theatre (Svenska Teaterni). He has written over 30 plays, seven of which have been staged in Estonia, including the comedy "Are There Tigers in the Congo?" which has seen three productions. The most successful among them have been the Estonian Drama Theatre's production "Ashes and Aquavit" (directed by Roman Baskin), Ugala Theatre's "The Illusionist" (directed by Janek Vadi), and Old Baskin Theatre's "My Dear Lift" (directed by Eino Baskin).

The production was designed by Estookin, a laureate of several design awards and, in recent years, one of the hottest names in Estonian art (exhibition on war ruins in Tallinn cityscape!). In 2022, he graduated as a theater artist from the Estonian Academy of Arts under the mentorship of Ene-Liis Semper, and "Walking on Water" is his first design in professional Estonian theatre.

Directed by Jaak Allik.

Starring Piret Rauk and Tanel Ting.

The performance is a one-act play of approximately 1h 30'.

Premiere on October 3, 2024, at Kuressaare Theatre