Vanemuine is a theatre in Tartu, Estonia. It is the first Estonian-language theatre. Stemming from the Vanemuine Society (1865), the theatre's first performance was Lydia Koidula's Saaremaa Onupoeg at the society's fifth anniversary. In subsequent years, Vanemuine has expanded to include a symphony orchestra and ballet company, while its repertoire has included a range of operettas and music theatre through operas and dramas. Under Karl Menning, the theatre served a vocational purpose, with a great emphasis on educating future talent. Subsequent directors prioritized entertainment value, while Kaarel Ird—who led Vanemuine for more than forty years—oversaw a blend of genres as well as tours of the Soviet Union. In recent years, content has varied extensively.
Taavi Varm is an Estonian artist.
Jan Uuspõld is an Estonian stage, television, radio and film actor and musician.
Ardo Ran Varres is an Estonian composer and actor.
Tiit Lilleorg was an Estonian stage, film and television actor and co-founder and director of the Ida Dance School.
Kersti Heinloo is an Estonian stage, film and television actress who began her career in radio.
Külliki Saldre is an Estonian stage, television, radio and film actress.
Kiiri Tamm is an Estonian stage, television and film actress and stage manager.
Liina Olmaru is an Estonian stage, radio, television, and film actress.
Eili Sild is an Estonian stage, film, television and radio actress whose career began on the theatre stage in the early 1960s and has spanned over fifty years.
Juss Haasma is an Estonian stage, film and television actor and musician.
Ain Mäeots is an Estonian stage, film, and television actor and stage, film, and television director and producer.
Merle Jääger is an Estonian television, stage and film actress, poet and author who frequently uses the pen name Merca. Initially associated with the burgeoning Estonian punk rock scene of the early to mid 1980s, she has been described as the "bard of protest". Her career as an actress began in her early 20s and she has received a number of high-profile awards for stage roles.
Heikki Haravee was an Estonian actor, theatre director, and singer whose career spanned over fifty years; forty-three of which were spent at the Vanemuine theatre in Tartu.
Erika Kaljusaar is an Estonian stage, film, and television actress, theatre producer, and stage manager whose career began on stage in 1979. She is a founder of the Open Stage Association of Freelance Actors, and a founding member and leader of the Loomine traditional theatre since 2004. Kaljusaar has also worked as a project manager for the Padise Abbey museum since 2007, and since 2013, as a contributor to the newspaper Padise Teataja.
Gunnar Kilgas was an Estonian actor and theatre director.
Veikko Täär is an Estonian actor, sport psychologist, athlete, educator and entrepreneur.
Kaarin Raid was an Estonian director, theatre pedagogue and actor.
Helena Merzin-Tamm is an Estonian actress.
Hans Kaldoja was an Estonian stage, television, film, and radio voice actor whose career began in the mid-1960s. Kaldoja was employed at the Estonian Drama Theatre for twenty-seven years; from 1965 until 1992, appearing in over one hundred theatre roles, before becoming a freelance actor. He has also recorded nearly two hundred audiobooks for the Estonian Library for the Blind.
