Oliver Issak

... is a dramaturg and freelance artist whose work in social design and performance art challenges traditional boundaries and activates public spaces through immersive, participatory experiences.

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Plays
  1. tonight (2025)
  2. Bogged down (2025)

Performances
  1. Until they are dead, they shall live forever (2026)
  2. The Dew Point (2025)
  3. How to Look at the See? (2024)
  4. Oasis (2022)
  5. Battlefield (2021)
  6. Safe Zone (2018)

Actions
  1. Monuments (2025)
  2. The Embassy of Utopia: Estonian Book 1000 (2025)
  3. The Embassy of Utopia: Radio (2023-2025)
  4. Translation Bureau (2024)
  5. The Embassy of Utopia: Happiness for Everyone, Free of Charfe, and Let No One Be Forgotten (2024)
  6. The Embassy of Utopia: Longing for a Different Way of Being (2023) 
  7. The Shadow Council (2022)
  8. 33 Speeches (2021)

Dramaturgical Formats
  1. Two-Room Conference
  2. Senior Citizens' Theatre Club "Avangard"
  3. Dinner at the Dramaturg's
 
Presentations / Speeches
  1. Spatial Dimensions in Heritage | Creative Research Capacities (2026)
  2. International Conference "Dramaturgy – Mapping the Landscapes" (2025)
  3. Baltic Drama Forum (2025)
  4. Estonian Cultural Endowment's 100th Anniversary Dinner (2025)
  5. Riga Performance Art Festival "Starptelpa" | Curators' Assembly (2024)

Texts / Books
  1. Teatrielu 2025 (editor) 
  2. Artishok Biennale (critic)
  3. Värske Rõhk: How to Write Kindness? 
  4. sss
  5. ss
  6. “Teatrielu 2020” (editor)


The Dew Point

(2025)




The Dew Point is a documentary performance exploring the ambiguous value of security in times of (perpetual) war.

At the heart of the project lies artist Kristina Norman’s personal process of renovating a Soviet-era sauna in the Estonian countryside with her father, who was a conscript in the Soviet army in 1977/78. Combining video documentation of the construction process with a retelling of her father’s stories through a live performer, the performance opens up the liminal experience in the Baltic region, both mental and physical, in which the dew point marks a potential moment of poetic transformation.
Author / Performer: Kristina Norman
Performer: Katrin Essenson
Dramaturges: Katharina Joy Book (GER/USA), Oliver Issak
Assistant researcher: Minna Henriksson (FIN)
Soundscape, scenography, graphic design: Raul Keller
Video live operator: Erik Norkroos
Assisting director: Meelis Muhu
Video: Erik Norkroos (camera), Meelis Muhu (camera / video editing), Danek Kaunissaare(sound post production)
Technical solutions and support: Kalle Tikas
Light design: Heikki Paasonen / Kiasma Theatre (FIN)
Production: Annika Üprus, Kaie Küünal 
Visuals/photos: Kristina Norman, Minna Henriksson, Raul Keller


Kanuti Gildi SAAL,  Baltic Circle festival (2025)Interviews

Kristina Norman: Ajalugu ei ole minu jaoks midagi lõpetatut ega turvaliselt minevikku suletut (juuni 2026)


Oliver Issak ja Jan Teevet: hämarikus lugude kuulamisest on tänapäeval saanud suur luksus (19.04.2026)

Jan Teevet ja Oliver Issak lavastusest "Kuni nad surnud ei ole, elavad nad igavesti" (20.04.2026)

Jan Teevet: elu loo võib ära rääkida ka vaikides (21.04.2026)


Reviews

ARVUSTUS | Madli Pesti: Ühiskondliku Kastepunkti Reguleerimine. – PDF

ARVUSTUS | Valle-Sten Maiste: Ainese Kunstnikule Mitteallumise Mõtlema Kutsuv Veetlus. – PDF

PODCAST | Teatrivaht. “Sügissonaat” ja “Kastepunkt”








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