New LNDT season - Exercise Your Soul!

Recently, our society has been paying a lot of attention to a healthy body – everybody talks about a healthy diet, sports, marathons and keeping in shape, but what about our inner world? In its 77th season, the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre will invite you to train your soul. “Theatre reminds one of the need of an inner marathon and creates the right conditions for it. The performances running throughout the season, one after the other, will raise questions to which, we believe, the viewers will find the answers.” – says LNDT Director General M. Budraitis on the concept of the 77th season.

According to the soul system experts we consulted while preparing for the new season, watching a theatre play may be no less useful to one’s health than running. The play touches the nerve, relieves existential anxiety, releases feelings and deepens one’s perceptions of the world and other people.

In addition, we have found that the soul, just as the body, consists of a variety of organs. You may not have seen them in atlases, encyclopedias, or educational programs, but it does not mean that they do not exist!

This season, the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre will introduce you to CONSCIENCE, COMPASSION, TRUST, SELF-ESTEEM, NOSTALGIA, FAITH, COURAGE, CURIOSITY, DESIRE, INTUITION, OPENNESS, and LOVE. Twelve premieres – twelve opportunities to train different organs of the soul.

Think about the last time you exercised your CONSCIENCE, trained your COMPASSION or OPENNESS? Maybe your INTUITION has stopped working at all. When was the last time you focused on your CONFIDENCE and SELF-ESTEEM?

In its 77th season, the theatre has prepared a balanced exercise program that will help viewers cultivate their soul organ system. Throw away your doubts and skepticism, and join in the soul marathon!

Self-esteem is an oblong organ of the soul, also known as the backbone of the soul. Self-esteem is closely related to all the soul organs, especially to faith and trust. Self-esteem is raised by faith and stretched by trust. If the two organs – faith and trust – are not working properly, self-esteem shrinks automatically. Healthy self-esteem reduces the syndromes of remorse and self-flagellation.

Nostalgia is a soul organ, which consists of three main parts: nebula, wave beat and the pumps of little things. Experiences and memories, surrounded by oblivion, are accumulated in the soul nebula. An image, a smell or an unexpected thought triggers the adjacent pumps of little things, and these start the third part – the wave beat, which overwhelms you with memories or inexorable longing. The organ becomes more active in the evenings, in the fall, usually, when one is in solitude.

Compassion – the soul organ that connects human beings with each other with invisible ties. It’s everyone’s responsibility to keep this organ from becoming numb. Compassion is directly proportional to the sensitivity of the heart and is deepened by personal or national experiences. Smooth activity of the organ is only possible if one has developed tolerance and understanding.

Trust is a complex soul organ, consisting of a number of spaces, which are filled during one’s lifetime. This organ is essential for building and maintaining relationships with other individuals. This is an organ, which should be developed and strengthen since childhood, starting with a best friend’s oath, a lent bike and a kept secret. If most of the spaces of trust are empty, one may become overly cautious, suspicious and, eventually, prone to complaining and seclusion. The organ of trust is developed by strengthening one’s relations with one’s close ones and oneself.

Love is the organ that artists and scientists have explored the most and yet have not been able to fully define. In its active state, it engulfs the soul with uncontrollable power, often almost halting the activity of the other organs. Its activity is based on a contradiction – it is triggered by devotion, affection, desire, pain, loss, and rejection. This organ is also stimulated by faith and hope.

Faith – a complicated soul organ that keeps the whole system together. Its size and shape may differ in different individuals, sometimes it may deflate a little due to external factors (extreme situations, unexpected behavior of one’s friends and family). At its strongest, it swells and slightly lifts up the whole system. Functioning at full capacity, it evenly distributes peace of mind throughout the soul. Prevents disappointment, inspires, and opens an all-encompassing understanding.