The story of a decline

It is time to talk about drug addiction truthfully and straightforwardly. And most importantly—fearlessly. The production How I Became a HAPKOMAHIAC is based on a book of the same name, which contains stories about drug addiction in Estonia that startled thousands of readers when they first were published as installments on the web page Nihilist.fm. The author, under the pseudonym HAPKOMAH, spoke with brutal detail about an Estonia that none of us wants to know, but which nevertheless lurks right here: in the apartment next door, in the next room, in the next seat. Chronicler HAPKOMAH presents us with a fact—it is all real. It is happening to us here and now. It will not get any prettier. Though it will go further than that, says the foreword in the book, published in 2016.

These “messages from the other side“ give a voice to those from whom it has been taken away; who have never had it. They are stories from Estonia that have so far been considered more convenient and safer not to talk about. That time is now over. We are no longer silent.

Each performance is followed by a discussion with specialists from Viljandi hospital and police station.

Dramaturge Jim Ashilevi

Director Vallo Kirs

Scenographer Nele Sooväli

Music Director Mart Rauba

Lyrics Sass Henno and Mart Rauba

Movement Director Jaanika Tammaru

Video Designer Kärt Petser

Light Designer Villu Konrad

Assistant Director Tõnis Veelmaa (UT VCA)

On stage the class of 2021 of theatrical studies: Rainer Elhi, Mihkel Kuusk, Ruuben-Joosua Palu, Miika Pihlak, Karmel Naudre, Maria Paiste and Marion Tammet.

Photos by Heigo Teder

Premiere 16 October 2019