Festival Organisers
2024 August 29
The upcoming Vilnius International Theatre Festival Sirenos, which will take place from September 25 to October 11, encourages audiences to analyze not only the performances on stage but also the personal contexts each of us brings to the theatre. As in previous years, in addition to the international program and the Lithuanian theatre showcase, Sirenos invites attendees to the festival’s Club. The Club’s programme adds deeper layers of meaning to the festival’s theme, introduces the audience to interdisciplinary experiments, and brings together the performing arts community.
Expanding the Space of Perception
“This year, the Club’s program will guide the audience through unexpected internal and external spaces, pushing boundaries and encouraging maximum participation from everyone,” said composer Agnė Matulevičiūtė, curator of the Sirenos Club’s artistic program. She explains that the core of the Club’s artistic vision revolves around social spaces, urging festival visitors to step out of traditional theatre settings and engage in performances that extend beyond conventional boundaries.
On September 26, choreographer Agnietė Lisičkinaitė’s work Hands Up will be presented. Created by Agnietė Lisičkinaitė, Odeta Riškutė, Bush Hartsorn, Povilas Laurinaitis, Morta Nakaitė, and Jokūbas Tulaba, this performance invites the audience to participate in the transformation of public space – a protest on the city streets. The experience, which blurs the line between performance and political intervention, interactively explores the delicate balance between surrender and dedication, reconciliation and resistance.
In a surprising public space beneath the Mindaugas Bridge, a six-hour artistic action by the “Aira” dance theatre, titled Russian Roulette, will take place on September 28. Created by Aira Naginevičiūtė, Erika Vizbaraitė, and Arūnas Adomaitis, this work symbolizes the absurdity and senselessness of war, echoing the DNA encoded in the narratives and actions of today’s military aggressors. It contrasts the symbols of life and death, extending temporality and engaging in political and social intervention. This performance offers a piercing examination of the value of life, fragility, human brutality, and the futility of killing – questions that inevitably arise in the face of war.
The Sirenos Club’s artistic program will conclude with the Sirenos Lithuanian Theatre Showcase awards, where the international jury will recognize the most memorable performances. Additionally, an award for the most audience-friendly performance will be presented, chosen by the readers of the LRT.LT portal. The award ceremony on September 29 will be directed by Laura Kutkaitė and the creative team behind last year’s jury award-winning performance, The Silence of the Sirens. For the third consecutive year, the direction of the award ceremony is entrusted to a previous year’s winner, who returns to the festival to present the awards and pass on this tradition to new creators.
A Space for Tradition
As part of the educational program at the Sirenos Club, the seminar “Introduction to Contemporary Performing Arts Criticism,” led by Slovenian theatre expert, dance historian, and curator Rok Vevar, will be held. Organized in collaboration with the Association of Performing Arts Critics, the seminar will discuss various aspects of contemporary performing arts criticism and will take place on September 25 and 26.
The Club’s educational program continues its tradition of highlighting a specific creator or collective, offering a deeper insight into their work. This year, the spotlight is on the creative duo El Conde de Torrefiel, known for captivating European audiences. Their performance, An Image from the Inside, will be featured in the festival’s international program. The Barcelona-based collective, consisting of Tanya Beyeler and Pablo Gisbert, invites audiences to delve into complex and often uncomfortable topics through performances characterized by a striking visual aesthetic.
This August, theatre enthusiasts had the chance to experience El Conde de Torrefiel at the ConTempo festival in Kaunas, where their work Ultraficcion no. 1 / Fracciones de tiempo was presented. On October 6, Tanya Beyeler will lead a workshop at the Sirenos Club titled “Invisible Geographies (How to Activate Fictions),” exploring how intangible elements like text and sound can become powerful generators of physical spaces on stage. The Sirenos Club will also offer a deeper look into the work of El Conde de Torrefiel with screenings of the video of La Plaza, one of the duo’s most striking performances, on October 6 and 8.
As always, the festival will provide a space for public discussions with artists. Silke Huysmans and Hannes Dereere, the creators behind Pleasant Island and Out of the Blue – which are part of the international programme – as well as the duo El Conde de Torrefiel, will engage in conversations about creativity. The discussion “Art as a Space for Resistance,” which brings together Lithuanian and international artists, will encourage attendees to observe and listen more deeply.
“The space offers creators the freedom to think, feel, and create without limitations. It can be a dynamic environment where ideas, conversations, and knowledge converge. In the educational segment of the Sirenos Club, we invite you to help create such a space: to engage in dialogue, listen, reflect, slow down, and find inspiration. This is about the performing arts, which, enriched by conversation, enables us to share a common space, understand one another, and explore communication even in the face of disagreements,” says Ugnė Kačkauskaitė, curator of the Sirenos Club’s educational programme and performing arts critic.
All Sirenos Club events are free, and most will be conducted in English. Participants for the seminars will be selected through an open call, with registration details to be announced in early September. For more information, visit www.sirenos.lt.