Latvian Puppet Theatre

Wartime formation and establishment

The theatre developed from a puppet group organised in 1942 within the Latvian SSR State Art Ensemble, which was then working in Ivanovo in the Russian SFSR. The group was led by poet Mirdza Ķempe and writer and translator Jānis Žīgurs, and performed for Latvian evacuees and soldiers during the Second World War.

Its first performance after returning to Latvia took place in Daugavpils on 3 October 1944. The following day, the Latvian SSR Arts Administration granted the ensemble the status of a professional state theatre. It moved to Riga in November 1944 and, after using several temporary venues, settled in the former Radio Modern cinema on Krišjāņa Barona Street.

Post-war artistic development

A Russian-language company was established in 1946. During the following decades, directors, designers and puppet makers including Arnolds Burovs, Tīna Hercberga, Pāvils Šenhofs, Alberts Terpilovskis and Anna Nollendorfa helped shape the theatre's artistic practice. Productions used glove and rod puppets, while directors and designers also combined puppetry with acting, music, film and other stage forms.

Šenhofs joined the theatre in 1946 and served as its chief designer from 1950 to 2000. During more than five decades at the theatre, he designed puppets and scenography for over 300 productions. Hercberga developed productions for adult audiences from the mid-1950s and later directed the experimental revue Interlellis-67 (1967), created with Šenhofs and playwright Gunārs Priede. The production used approximately 120 puppets and became a landmark in the theatre's history.

Other long-running productions included Un atkal Pifs... (Pif Again...), first staged in 1983. It remained in the repertoire for four decades.

After the restoration of Latvian independence

The institution was renamed the Latvian State Puppet Theatre in 1991 and adopted its current name in 2005. From the 1990s, productions were increasingly developed for more specific age groups, including preschool children, school-age audiences, teenagers and adults. The theatre also expanded its use of marionettes, sand animation, object theatre and collaborations with visiting directors.

During the closure of theatres in the COVID-19 pandemic, it opened a digital stage called Dīvānzāle in February 2021. The platform presented recordings and screen adaptations of productions in Latvian and Russian while the company continued preparing new work.

Eihe became the theatre's board member and director in 2022. Under his leadership, the theatre increased its emphasis on contemporary visual theatre, young directors and productions for teenage and adult audiences. Regular Russian-language performances ended in the 2023-24 season, while the theatre continued as a single Latvian-language company.