In October - even three international tours

Recently, the Lithuanian National Drama Theater has intensified its international tours. Before the start of the 78th LNDT season, the first tour took place already at the end of August – the most internationally touring LNDT show “Heroes’ Square” was presented to the audience of St. Petersburg, Russia. Three more international tours of the LNDT are scheduled for October this year. The creative team of “Boris Godunov” has already gone to Gdansk, where on October 6 this performance will be shown at the Gdansk Shakespeare Theater during the Lithuanian week in Gdansk.

The Shakespeare Theater of Gdansk does not have a permanent repertoire and troupe, but it offers a wide range of cultural and educational activities for children, young people and seniors whose goal is to cultivate the theater culture of residents of Gdansk and Poland in general. The theater led by Professor Jerzy Limon of the University of Gdansk annually organizes not only the Shakespeare Festival, in which Lithuanian theaters have often participated, but also tours of European theaters. The Gdansk Shakespeare Theater also hosts concerts, exhibitions, and scientific conferences. This year, in addition to “Boris Godunov” (dir. Eimuntas Nekrošius), the festival will feature three more performances from Lithuania: “Minetti” (dir. Rimas Tuminas), “Seagull” (dir. Oskaras Koršunovas) and “Mosaic” by the theatrical group “Dansema”. There will also be an exhibition of works by photographer Dmitrijus Matvejevas, poetry evenings, and screenings of Lithuanian films.

On October 17, “Martyr” directed by Oskaras Koršunovas at the Lithuanian National Drama Theater will leave for France. The play will open the International Theater Festival “Sens Interdits” and will be performed at the Theater “Les Celestines” in Lyon three times – on October 19, 20, and 21. The author of the play, a German dramatist Marius von Mayenburg, will also be visiting the festival. The festival “Sens Interdits” has been organized since 2009 and aims to introduce the public to poignant themes, including hot political issues, using theater as a weapon and a courageous voice. This year the festival will be held for the fifth time, with theatrical artists from 17 countries participating, including representatives of countries that are rarely met at international theater festivals. The audience will be able to see performances from Bolivia, Colombia, Egypt, Cameroon, France, Greece, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland and Syria. The festival will feature the performance of the famous director, Mathias Langhoff, “The Mission (Souvenir d'une re'volution)” and “Clean City”, which was presented by the Greek artists Anestis Azas and Prodromos Tsinikoris in the “Sirenos” Festival in Vilnius, in 2016. The festival will also have exhibitions, debates and thematic meetings.

On October 19, the team of the LNDT performance “Our Class” (dir. Yana Ross) will travel to Wuzhen, China, where LNDT’s “Chaos” also directed by Yana Ross, was presented in 2015.

Wuzhen, located in the easternmost part of China, in Zhejiang Province, was established more than 1300 years ago and is among the seven historical cities located on the Yangtze River. According to the organizers, when the international theater festival, named after the city, begins, Wuzhen, famous for its canals and ancient stone bridges turns into one big stage. The festival is unofficially called the Chinese Avignon, with shows being presented to very large audiences. The organizers seek to strengthen the festival’s artistic program by inviting outstanding performances from Western Europe, including representatives of Lithuania.

The Wuzhen Theater Festival will present such artists as Katie Mitchell, one of the best contemporary British theatre directors, who will demonstrate her Berlin production of Elfriede Jelinek’s play “Shadow”, and well-known performance artists “Gob Squad” who will present their show “Western Society” to the audience of Wuzhen.

The festival will be held for the fifth time, the main topic of this year – Luminosity. This year in various programs of the festival there will be theater groups from China, Brazil, Australia, the USA, Lebanon, Switzerland, Ireland, Russia and Romania. The OKT/Vilnius City Theater will present “Seagull” by Chekhov (dir. Oskaras Koršunovas) and the Vakhtangov Theater from Russia – Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin” directed by a Lithuanian theater director Rimas Tuminas. “Our Class” of LNDT will be presented in a the New Voice category and the audience will be able to see it three times - on October 22, 23 and 24. All tickets to the Lithuanian National Drama Theater show were sold out a long time ago.

In Lithuania “Boris Godunov” will be shown on December 1, “Martyr” – on November 29, 30, and “Our Class” – on December 29. For more information go to: www.teatras.lt