Valmiera Theatre viewers invited to vote for this year’s best show and performers

With the arrival of the end of the year, the Valmiera Theatre in cooperation with the dairy processing company Food Union makes a now-traditional invitation for its audiences to join the ‘Skatītāju balss’ (‘Viewers’ Vote’) poll and vote for the best performers and the best show of the last 2014/2015 season.

In contrast to the other years, this time it will be possible to vote for actors in main and secondary roles (as nominated by the theatre’s directors); there will also be a traditional vote for the Show of the Year, to be selected from this season’s 10 new productions. The audience voting was introduced four years ago, and since then has attracted broad publicity. The polling will take place until 20 December; the viewers are invited to vote online, at the theatre’s webpage www.vdt.lv, or by filling in a form at the theatre. The viewers who have voted will be able to join a draw, to win prizes from Food Union and the Valmiera Theatre. The best actors and the best show of the year will be announced on 29 December at the Annual Awards ceremony, after the special Christmas concert by the band Iļģi.

The manager of theatre Evita Sniedze said: ‘Year after year, the viewers’ award lets us realise more and more that our audience are confident and intelligent in their choice, suggesting that the theatre is moving in the right direction, and maintaining the dialogue about significant, sometimes even tragic trends and events. And the actors still expect the viewers’ thoughts and evaluations the most.’

‘The actors’ and the director’s excellent work encourages the audience to look at the world from a different viewpoint, bringing up the most profound emotions and fantasies. With that in mind, and the fact that the number of votes is growing every year, one can confirm that “Skatītāju balls” has become an established tradition in the cultural life of Valmiera. The people who work at the theatre use their creativity to captivate hundreds and thousands of viewers more and more. This is why we are very happy to turn, for the fourth year in a row, positive emotions into gilded milk cans serving as an acknowledgement of the excellent collective performance of the Valmiera Theatre,’ the Food Union representative, deputy council chair of AS Rīgas piena kombināts, Harijs Panke, said.

Last year, the 2013/2014 season viewers’ award winners included the actress Māra Mennika and the actor Mārtiņš Meiers, who received this distinction for the second year in a row, while the Show of Year award was given by the viewers to ‘Taureņi ir brīvi’ (‘Butterfles are free’) directed by Reinis Suhanovs.