Music theatre production „Estonian Games. Tönk”

Produced by Eesti Kontsert in collaboration with Von Krahl Theatre

Author: Sigismund von Krahl
Director: Peeter Jalakas (Von Krahl Theatre)
Music: Trad.Attack!
Dramaturg-actor: Taavi Eelmaa (Von Krahl Theatre)
Coreography: Ingmar Jõela
Decorations, costumes: Kärt Ojavee and Edith Karlson
Video: Martti Helde
Light design: Javer Jaanus
Technical solutions: Enar Tarmo 

‘Estonian Games. TÖNK’ is a theatrical performance based on music.

The performance will tell the story of the importance of games in the development of humans and features the music of Estonian ensemble Trad.Attack!  www.tradattack.ee

On the stage are ensemble Trad.Attack!, a band whose music is closely related to Estonian folklore, and ten young actors, recent graduates of the Drama School of Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, who are playing games. The performance has no language barrier. The songs with lyrics have been translated into English.

Why did our usually quite rational ancestors decide to spend their hard-earned energy on pointless endeavours in winter? They pretended to be giraffes on dark nights by using the shaft of a broom inserted through the sleeve of a coat or used commodities to create a tönk, an entirely useless object. What do our folk games say about our society, dreams, or loneliness?

Games have had a significant importance in the development of humankind. According to historian Johan Huizinga, the Homo sapiens, the wise man, is succeeded by the Homo ludens, the playing man. He said this in 1938, long before Nintendo and computer games.

The premiere performances took place in 10-16 June 2018 at the Tartu Raadi Airplane Hangar (Tartu, Estonia) – the venue, which is in close proximity of the Estonian National Museum, and was therefore a very meaningful and the most logical place for the performances in Estonia. The performances were dedicated to Republic of Estonia´s 100th anniversary.

For director Peeter Jalakas, this is the third time to deal with Estonian games. The previous ones were ‘Eesti mängud. Kaelkirjak liigub edasi’ (‘Estonian games. The giraffe keeps moving’) in 1990 and ‘Eesti mängud. Pulm’ (‘Estonian games. Weddings’) in 1996.

The target audience is meant to be first and foremost the music theatre lovers and rather younger or middle-aged people, who love ethno/folk music as made by Trad.Attack!

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About Trad.Attack!

Trad.Attack! has really turned Estonian music scene upside down by bringing traditional music to the big stages, building modern world around its archaic sounds. It is often said that the band with its three members sounds so big that you would think there’s much more people on the stage.

They take traditional songs – sometimes starting with scratchy recordings of long vanished village voices – and build pulsating rhythmic structures, creating an impressively big sound from acoustic 12-string guitar, drums and an array of whistles, bagpipes and jew’s harps.

Folk music is definitely their starting point, but not their boundary. They are young modern people: maintaining their traditional roots in ears, mind and soul, TRAD.ATTACK! experiments with different styles and musical directions.

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TÖNK General specifications (rider)
Tönk Light technical rider
TÖNK sound rider
TÖNK Video Technical Rider