Theatre Data

“Theatre Data” contains information on Latvian theatre artists and their creative work in professional theatres. It is part of the UL ILFA Humanities and Arts Digital Platform Humma.lv. The resource is regularly updated with information on events and figures in Latvia’s performing arts (theatre, dance, musical theatre, opera, circus, etc.).

As part of the project, the functionality of the theatre data archive is gradually being developed to make data searching and analysis more convenient. The archive is updated daily with current events, while the long-term goal is to compile information on all productions since the beginnings of professional theatre in Latvia in the late 19th century.

The data is organized into several interconnected datasets, primarily based on PEOPLE and PRODUCTIONS, creating links between the individuals, organizations, venues, awards, and nominations associated with each work.

“Theatre Data” is a collaboration between UL ILFA, the theatre catalogue Izrades.lv, the Latvian Theatre Workers’ Union, and Latvian theatres. Data on productions is displayed in the Izrades.lv online catalogue, where it is supplemented with information on performance time and venue, links to ticket sales platforms, audience ratings and comments, as well as links to reviews in media outlets. Information on theatre professionals (education, workplaces, awards) is available on the Latvian Theatre Workers’ Union website. Both the Izrades.lv team and the Latvian Theatre Workers’ Union provide essential financial contributions to the project’s development and cooperation.

The “Theatre Data” project began in 2014 within a cooperation initiative between humanities institutes at the University of Latvia, which resulted in the creation of a Virtual Encyclopaedia. The project was supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation (SCCF) in the 2014 competition “Entering 750 New Theatre Production Records into the Virtual Encyclopaedia”. Work on compiling new production data and digitizing information resumed in 2020 in collaboration with the creators of the Izrades.lv theatre catalogue. Various programming, infrastructure improvement, and theatre data collection activities were also supported by SCCF project competitions in 2022 (“Theatre Data”) and 2023 (“Awards in Culture: Database Development”).