An embrace of a performance. Like a grandmother’s lap, it has room for everyone.
The production was selected through the 2026/2027 open call and is created in co-production by Big Wolf Company and Tartu New Theatre.
Once upon a time, Lightgarden was shaped by light and its absence. By shadows and reflections formed when hands, plants, and stories cross its path. In the Garden, what grows in the shadows reaches toward the light, and people come from far and near to release their heaviness, be filled with wishes, and witness gentleness on a full moon’s night.
Lightgarden speaks through aerial acrobatics, storytelling, and projections. It is a fairytale tent that tests the boundaries of possibility and imagination. Rather than remaining distant spectators, the audience moves directly into the heart of its world.
Light flows into the warm palms of the villagers and, little by little, into their innermost selves. Through light and shadow, they too become storytellers. And the tent speaks back.
"This performance is our response to the chaos of the world. It is rooted in the belief that sometimes we need to be held in a space so cosy, warm, and safe that we let down our guard and discover that same cosiness, warmth, and safety within ourselves."
An important point of departure in creating this work has been sensory hypersensitivity and the desire to create something soft, slow, and nurturing — especially in a world that so desperately demands our attention.
Author and performer
Grete Gross (EE)
Co-Author
Elisa Kundi-Matvejeva (LV)
Narrator and Prop Master
Krõõt Saar (EE)
Lighting and Video Designer
Paulius Jakubenas (LT)
Supported by
Estonian Cultural Endowment
the City of Tartu
Riga Circus
Visaginas Cultural Centre
Põlva Cultural Centre
Premiere
12. augustil 2026 Tartu Uue Teatri suures saalis
Language
The performance is partly verbal and will be performed in both English and Estonian simultaneously
Additional information
Recommended age is 6+
Each performance can accommodate up to 40 people
Duration
Up to 1h 30 min in one part
Both, daytime and nighttime, performances begin with a walk. During the performance, the audience will be in socks, and at times the experience takes place while sitting or lying on the floor.
Please check the time and meeting point for your performance:
Afternoon performance starts at 16:00 from the backyard of Tartu New Theatre, entry through the gate on Magasini Street — Theatre Terrace Cafe is open before the show
Late-night performance starts at 22:30 at the UT Botanical Garden Kroonuaia Gate on Kroonuaia Street
Gates open 10 minutes prior; latecomers will not be admitted to the walk
Please note that the Kroonuaia Gate is up to a 10-minute walk from the theatre building on Lai streetIn case of bad weather, changes may occur. Please keep an eye out for pre-show information.
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