Puppet Theater Moving Forward After Recent Scandals, Says Board
Meeting two months after a major shakeup at the Estonian Puppet and Youth Theater, members of its board have said they are optimistic about the institution's future but will strive to remain grounded.
Joonas Tartu, the new head of the theater, said that the now-closed production of Shrek, which was the previous leadership's project, showed good attendance numbers, but was still a very expensive and risky project, ETV reported on Friday.
Tartu added that the pile of bills on his desk has begun to decrease and that the theater's financial woes could be resolved by the end of 2014.
In mid-April, Tartu was named the new head of the theater after Meelis Pai resigned from the post. The resignation was triggered by the sacking of the chairman of the board a few days earlier.
That sacking was, in turn, decided by the Ministry of Culture after the theater was found to have made a loss of 364,000 euros in 2012.
The theater was also found to have left royalty fees for 11 plays unpaid since January 2010. In a separate case, the theater's art director quit this January after plagiarism claims surfaced.
Speaking about the new season that will open this fall, the board said they will be realistic, but will also remain optimistic.
In an interview given to ERR at the end of April, Tartu said Pai took big risks that often failed to justify themselves.