Lifetime Achievement Awards of Latvia's "Spēlmaņu nakts" Theatre Prize Announced

The Latvian Theatre Workers' Union (LTDS) has announced that this year's "Spēlmaņu nakts" theatre award for lifetime contribution to the performing arts will go to Inta Tirole, an actress at the Latvian National Theatre, and Juris Bartkevičs, an actor at the Dailes Theatre. The recipients are chosen by the LTDS board. Apollo.lv reported the news on 10 November.

Inta Tirole

Tirole joined the National Theatre in 1960 after graduating from the theatre faculty. In her early years she played many roles that called for her playfulness and girlish presence. Later there were fewer roles, but she kept herself busy with projects of her own. Audiences most associate her with monoplays and other self-initiated works: William Russell's "Shirley Valentine", Eric Hanberg's "Vīrieši man sirdi plosa", Raimonds Auškāps's "Tāda dzīve", Roger Hall's "Book Club" and Laima Muktupāvela's "Šampinjonu derība".

Tirole is the oldest actress still performing in Latvian theatres. A week ago she played her most recent role on the main stage, in Ināra Slucka's production "All About Eve", where she plays the closest aide of the stage diva Margo Channing.

Juris Bartkevičs

Bartkevičs's creative career, which spans more than fifty years, is tied to the Liepāja and Dailes theatres. From 1970 to 2004 he was an actor at the Liepāja Theatre and one of the actors of director Oļģerts Kroders. Under Kroders he played, among others, Lester in "Mary Stuart", Razumikhin in "Crime and Punishment", Hamlet and Claudius in "Hamlet", Trigorin in "The Seagull" and the title role in "Peer Gynt".

From 1996 to 2004 he was artistic director of the Liepāja Theatre and also performed the duties of director. During that time the rock opera "Kaupēn, mans mīļais!" by Jānis Lūsēns and Māra Zālīte and the musical "Stikla kalns" by Juris Kulakovs and Jānis Peters were created. Bartkevičs also directed several productions himself.

Since 2004 he has been an actor at the Dailes Theatre. His roles there include Diderot in "Izvirtulis", Roy Cohn in "Angels in America" and the Grandfather in "Bury Me Under the Floor", for which he was nominated for a "Spēlmaņu nakts" award. His role as Mark Rothko in Łukasz Twarkowski's production "Rotkho" has become internationally visible. The actor also takes part in Twarkowski's production "Oracle", whose premiere took place at the Ruhrtriennale.

Bartkevičs's work has won several "Spēlmaņu nakts" awards, as well as the Žanis Katlaps and Harijs Liepiņš awards. In 2020 he received the Order of the Three Stars.