Dailes Theatre announces its new season

The new season will bring four new large-scale dramatic productions, the musical "Candide," a concert, and three new small-scale productions.

In addition to these productions, the New Hall will host one show created in co-production with two Finnish theatres, one replica production from abroad, and one show that had its premiere moved from the previous season to this one.

Over the course of the season there are plans to expand the repertoire further, however, this also depends on next year's funding, which the theatre does not know yet.

In the new season Dailes Theatre also welcomes audiences to its first Baltic Sea region guest performance showcase – the very first DAILENNIALE RIGA. It kicked off with sold-out shows of the Estonian Drama Theatre production "Business As Usual" on August 26 and will be going on until October 31. 

Just like previous years, the touring Dailes Theatre productions "Oracle" and "Rothko" will carry the name of Latvia across Europe, as well as to Australia, Korea, and, next spring, Singapore. Alongside these shows, the co-production "Suburban Angels", directed by Finnish director Minna Lund, will also be touring actively this season, travelling to Finland in spring 2027. Meanwhile, "Siddhartha", directed by Belgian directing star Lisaboa Houbrechts and co-produced by Dailes Theatre, will be one of the most ambitious productions of the year on European stages. September 10 is its world premiere date at the Ruhrtriennale, and soon after it is coming to the Large Hall at Dailes Theatre on October 21, 22 and 23.

Large Hall

The season's first premiere is coming right up – with director Mārtiņš Eihe staging a hustle and bustle in two acts, the thrilling play "Noises Off" by Michael Frayn in the Large Hall. In it, a touring theatre company is ready for the dress rehearsal – at least that's what they thought. But the genre is a definite hint that things won't go so smoothly. Props change like smuggled goods, affairs fall apart, lines get mixed up, and the backstage turns into a lavatory of emotional eruptions… This is not merely a comedy, it is a slow-motion train wreck. Premiere – September 11.

The tail end of September is bringing a Raimonds Pauls concert “A Touch of Daile”. Celebrating the musical legacy of the Maestro, the concert will once again bring to life compositions created for Daile performances such as “Short Lesson in Love”, “John Neyland”, “The Count of Monte Cristo”, “Marlene”, “Sherlock Holmes”, “The Wild Swans” – a musical loved by generations of audiences – and others. Directed by Gints Andžāns. Premiere at Dailes theatre – September 30.

October will see the long-awaited Latvian premiere of the music theatre production "Siddhartha" at Dailes Theatre. For the second year running, the names of Latvia and the Dailes Theatre will resound at the Ruhrtriennale – one of the most important theatre and arts events in Europe. Even before its premiere "Siddhartha" is already heralded as a major European theatre event of the year. this performance features a large international creative team, with Dailes Theatre actress Milēna Miškēviča, the award-winning Latvian Radio Choir and conductor Kaspars Putniņš representing Latvia. The piece is dramatised for the stage and directed by the Belgian director Lisaboa Houbrechts, often hailed as a sorceress of the stage – in her work she dissolves the boundary between music theatre and contemporary opera. A visible presence in today's European theatre landscape, she has taken to interpreting “Siddhartha”, a novel by Hermann Hesse, drawing audiences into a philosophical tale of the spiritual journey of a young Brahmin towards enlightenment in India, an exploration of self-knowledge, worldly doubt, and the pursuit of wisdom.

Producers: Toneelhuis Antwerp, KVS (Belgium).
Co-producers: Ruhrtriennale (Germany), Dailes Theatre, International Theatre Amsterdam ITA (Netherlands), Belém Cultural Centre (Portugal).
Executive producer: Toneelhuis Antwerp.

The production is supported by Riga City Council and the Belgian federal government's tax shelter scheme, via Gallop Tax Shelter.

January 29 will see the premiere of a musical drama, a story about the creation of the best music album of all time – “Stereophonic”. Inspired by the making of the legendary album “Rumours” (1977) by Fleetwood Mac, playwright David Adjmi and Will Butler of Arcade Fire fame have crafted an elegiac portrait of how deeply personal life shapes creative choices. Since its world premiere in 2023, "Stereophonic" has become a cult item of contemporary drama – nominated for 13 Tony Awards and winning five, including Best Play. At Dailes Theatre the production will be directed by Viesturs Kairišs.

On February 26, the Large Hall stage will welcome a unique take on the musical production “Candide”, directed by Mārtiņš Meiers. Written by Leonard Bernstein, “Candide” is one of the world's most-loved pieces of musical theatre, based on a philosophical satire of the same name by Voltaire. It is "a musical with the character of an operetta" – the piece brings together elements of both worlds: both the musical flight typical of operetta and the sincerity and glamour of musicals. How to hold on to hope in a world so full of injustice, and is blind optimism wisdom or folly – these are the questions touched upon by the tale of the naïve Candide, somewhat satirical and biting, yet meaningful, and pretty much relevant in every age. On stage: the Dailes Theatre 10th Actors’ Studio. Director – Mārtiņš Meiers. The show is co-produced with Cēsis Concert Hall.

Dailes Theatre continues to draw inspiration from the theatrical canon, offering a new take on the legendary musical "Sherlock Holmes" by Raimonds Pauls and Jānis Peters that saw its original premiere at the Large Hall back in 1979. New playwright Aleksandrs Barons, who co-wrote the new production of "Puss in Boots," is crafting a new dramaturgy for the show based on the work of Arthur Conan Doyle. In the third decade of the 21st century, it's no longer just about "eastern spices" and "the world's evil" as narrated by Doyle's adventurous heroes – it's time to open a new case and light up the pipe. Starring Artūrs Skrastiņš, Lauris Dzelzītis and Ilze Ķuzule-Skrastiņa, directed by Gatis Šmits. Premiere – May 28.

New Hall

On September 12, just a day after the season opening in the Large Hall, the first premiere of the season comes to the New Hall as well. Dmitrijs Petrenko ("He Said, She Said", 2025) returns to the stage of the New Hall at Dailes Theatre to direct "Shining City" by Irish playwright Conor McPherson. The production is billed as "ghostly therapy", and the synopsis reads: Isn't it sometimes the case that the doctor is actually the one who needs psychotherapy? What comes to light when, after the loss of his wife, John turns to psychotherapist Ian, a former priest… The patient is haunted by the ghost of his beloved wife, and he needs to confess to the doctor to make the apparition disappear. But it turns out that this mentally stable, self-assured specialist dishing out sage advice has quite a bit to hide himself. He has his own skeletons in the closet – no less frightening than his patient's. Suddenly, reality is more spooky than it seemed at the start of the session… Grief and loneliness, longing and selfishness, secrets and revelations, and one determined female ghost in a world of two men. Starring Andris Bulis, Lauris Dzelzītis, Anete Kursīte and Mārtiņš Upenieks. 

October 4 is the premiere date for the myth about America, "True West". The legendary American playwright, screenwriter and actor Sam Shepard needs no introduction. He penned the screenplays for "Zabriskie Point" (1970) by Michelangelo Antonioni, "Paris, Texas" (1984) by Wim Wenders, and many other big-screen classics. His play "True West" has brought out unseen angles of iconic actors, and this is the very first stage version of the piece in Latvia. The play is directed by the emerging Polish-born director Mateusz Staniak, who works in Amsterdam and Brussels, with a Belgian and Latvian team. The show is co-produced with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute (Instytut Adama Mickiewicza). Starring Toms Veličko and Niklāvs Kurpnieks. 

The new year at the New Hall will open with “Melancholia”. On January 15 the drama about beginnings and endings, directed by Toms Treinis and written by Lars von Trier and Jari Juutinen, will have its premiere. An iconic piece, starring Ilze Ķuzule-Skrastiņa in the lead role. “Melancholia” (2011) by the Danish grand master Lars von Trier is one of the most world-shattering works ever put to screen, and now it is coming to the Dailes Theatre stage.

February 25 in the New Hall will see the opening of an anti-wrinkle performance – “Suburban Angels”. The up-and-coming Finnish director Minna Lund, hailed as one of the most visible and compelling theatre-makers of her generation, turns her attention to the life of Mona Lisa of the Instagram age. Working with a Latvian-Finnish creative team, the result is a moving, fondly ironic look at tears, ageing and loneliness that never make it into a livestream. The production is a collaboration with Espoo City Theatre (Espoon teatteri) and Oulu City Theatre (Oulun teatteri). A Finland tour is scheduled for March and April 2027.

On March 9, the New Hall stage is about to have "Good Sex". The director and writer Ben Kidd says: "I make sex realistic, not real. It's choreography." What is sex like on stage? And how do you even have sex? In search of answers, two actors unfold a story of desire, betrayal and loneliness. They have never rehearsed together or read this script before. They are strangers to the production. But they are not alone – to help and guide them on stage, they are joined by an intimacy coordinator, trained and knowledgeable in how to touch people. So you can rest assured that the sex is safe. It is consensual. And it is good. This is one chapter in an age starved of love.

April 8 brings the premiere of "Paradise", written by Kae Tempest and directed by Viesturs Kairišs, to the stage of the New Hall. In "Paradise", musician, writer and spoken-word artist Kae Tempest rewrites the familiar myth and Sophoclean tragedy "Philoctetes" – a picture of the modern world with war, refugees, power, and people we'd much rather render invisible.