Festival Organisers
2024 June 15
What are the best performances from the past season in Lithuania to present to the international guests of Sirenos and to local audiences who have not yet discovered them? How do we select them? This year, after reviewing nearly 50 performances, the curators of the Lithuanian theatre showcase at the Vilnius International Theatre Festival Sirenos, Alma Braškytė and Kristina Steiblytė, theatre experts from different educational backgrounds and generations, made the selection.
“Our discussions about the 2023–2024 theatre season and our differing perspectives led us to highlight ten performances,” say the showcase curators. “Through these selections, we aim to showcase the diversity within Lithuanian theatre: from institutional works to new dramaturgy, and spanning various genres and disciplines. Despite this diversity, all of these performances are united by the creators’ thoughtful yet theatrically playful approach to themselves, theatre, and today’s world – one that often seems to struggle with understanding fundamental aspects like love and the search for meaning.”
The Lithuanian theatre showcase features five productions by state theatres and five by independent companies, staged in various venues across Vilnius, Klaipėda, and Šiauliai. The line-up includes works by renowned international authors, new Lithuanian plays, and original productions inspired by documentary material. These performances will be showcased from September 26 to 29.
The showcase will present a range of performances that explore different themes. Family relationships are examined in the absurd drama Patina, directed by Eglė Švedkauskaitė and based on a play by Virginija Rimkaitė, at the Šiauliai Drama Theatre, and in Mother, directed by Kirilas Glušajevas at OKT/Vilnius City Theatre. Other works address sharp questions of conscience and self-awareness, such as Jokūbas Brazys’s adaptation of Albert Camus’s Caligula at the Vilnius Old Theatre, and Yana Ross’s Consider the Lobster, staged at the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre (LNDT). The showcase also features Kamilė Gudmonaitė’s payphone opera, Things I Didn’t Dare to Say, and It’s Too Late Now, which premiered in the Great Hall of LNDT. The opera, with a libretto based on messages left by passers-by to their loved ones in a payphone, features music composed by Dominykas Digimas and was co-produced by LNDT, Operomanija, and the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre. Additionally, the latest performance, PRAEis (“Open Circle”), directed by Justas Tertelis and based on his own monodrama, will also be featured.
The Lithuanian showcase line-up features more than just dramatic works. It includes Žilvinas Vingelis’s visual narrative about Jean Cocteau, The Dilettante, presented by Cosmos Theatre, and the contemporary dance performance Lustopia, created by Cologne-based choreographer Silke Z. in collaboration with Laurynas Žakevičius and Airida Gudaitė, the founders and choreographers of the Vilnius City Dance Theatre “Low Air.” Lustopia delicately yet humorously explores the physicality of human relationships.
Audiences will also have the opportunity to engage in Paulius Markevičius’s experiential performance, Cafè Existans, held at the Opera Social House café. Here, they will encounter characters inspired by the writers, philosophers, artists, designers, and activists of the Existentialism era.
The showcase also features Adomas Juška’s latest work, based on Bernard-Marie Koltès’s play West Pier, produced at the Klaipėda Drama Theatre. This performance will be presented in a different format, where the director will show video excerpts from the production to international experts attending the festival and discuss the creative process and its outcomes.
Theatre critics Kristina Steiblytė and Alma Braškytė acknowledge that curating the showcase required balancing different perspectives, resulting in a program that not only captures the diversity of contemporary Lithuanian theatre but also reflects a range of viewpoints. The Lithuanian showcase aligns with the overarching theme of the Sirenos international program, metaphorically serving as a space where the diversity of theatrical forms fosters audience discussions.
“Beyond the directors’ work, which typically garners the most attention in Lithuania, we wanted to spotlight the outstanding contributions of composers Dominykas Digimas and Andrius Šiurys, set designers Lauryna Liepaitė and Barbora Šulniūtė, lighting designer Julius Kuršys, as well as the remarkable performances of actors from various generations,” say the curators of the showcase.
As in previous years, the performances in the Lithuanian showcase will be evaluated by an international jury of five theatre experts. The jury will award prizes to the three most memorable works, while the audience will have the chance to vote for their favourite. The awards will be presented in a traditional ceremony, which will be directed by the creative team behind last year’s winning performance, The Silence of the Sirens.
“The aim of the Sirenos Lithuanian theatre showcase is to foster dialogue between Lithuanian and international theatre, to explore what matters to us and to those creating abroad, and to invite theatre professionals of diverse backgrounds to discover the Lithuanian theatre scene. Our goal is to open this scene to the international market and to help establish potential creative partnerships,” says Kristina Savickienė, artistic director of the Vilnius International Theatre Festival Sirenos.
Lithuania’s largest theatre festival, Sirenos, organized by VšĮ Theatre Information Centre and VšĮ Vilnius Festivals, will take place for the twenty-first time this year. The festival has already announced its international programme, featuring exceptional stage works from Spain, Ukraine, Greece, and Belgium that explore the theme of space from various perspectives. Additionally, the festival will host the meeting of the performing arts network GLEN (Great Little European Network) and offer a range of networking, educational events, and activities at the festival club.
The festival is financed by the Lithuanian Council for Culture. The festival is supported by the Vilnius City Municipality.