Tiit Palu’s new production “Hot summer 93”

Tiit Palu's new production "Kuum suvi'93" tells about the events of 1993 in Narva. It was a time when everything changed at once: money, rules, boundaries and hopes. It felt as if life had pressed restart, but no one explained what would happen next.

In July 1993, the local authorities in Narva and Sillamäe organized a referendum on the issue of autonomy. Mart Laar, the prime minister at the time, later called it the most difficult crisis of his administration. There was a possibility that a part of Ida-Virumaa would separate from Estonia or even join Russia. Conflicts in Transnistria and Abkhazia were in front of our eyes. Narva had become a hotbed of tension.

The government sent the young Indrek Tarandi as a special representative to Narva, whose task was to assess the situation and influence the referendum organizers. The referendum took place on 16 and 17 July 1993.

The play tells the story of the Narva referendum through two possible points of view, the view from outside Narva and from inside Narva. For this purpose, the author met the participants in the event, collected documents and conducted interviews.