Interview with Łukasz Twarkowski

You began with Prosper Mérimée, but decided to include another two complicated stories in the performance. Why?

Prosper Mérimée and “Lokis” are only one of the components of the play with many unknown variables. When Martynas Budraitis and I first talked about “Lokis” as the starting material for the work at the Lithuanian National Drama Theater, I was mostly interested in the artistic quality of the story and a possibility of creating a psychological thriller in a theater. However, after reading the text several times I realized it was not enough. All of a sudden I came up with so many questions and topics. The relationship with the author became stronger, and the map of his text opened previously unknown spaces to us. It is an attempt to go on a journey with the writer’s thoughts instead of clinging to his story. Therefore, the name of our performance is not the Lithuanian word LOKYS, but the title of the original French book – LOKIS. This at first sight insignificant mistake or ambiguity was felt from the very beginning of the work.

When I read the short story by Mérimée, I immediately remembered the tragic story of Bertrand Cantat and Marie Trintignant, which for many Europeans is one of the first associations when hearing the name of Vilnius. Cantat admitted in one of his interviews that the most terrible thing that had happened to him was that he became a symbol of violence against women. Of course, we are not talking about an assessment of his guilt – rather, about the image created by the media: the image of a monster.

Vitas Luckus naturally became the third drama figure. In his case, we are more interested in what he could have said as a photographer, which is why his notes on the image were the most important source of inspiration for us.

Not only did you work on the performance, you also became investigators. What were the most important discoveries you made in “Lokis”? What is the importance of the mockumentary made of three different stories to the modern world?

With regard to “Lokis”, it is a fundamental question, and the term ‘mockumentary’ is another important element in the equation. In recent years, we have been seeing a breakthrough of mockumentary films, and international festivals even form separate sections for such films, although this type of film appeared a long time ago. For some reason, recently there has been a significant interest in this type of art. I see a certain crack in the wall between documentary and feature film, which for a very long time was deemed impenetrable, as a very symptomatic sign of the present world. I don’t know why this is happening, but I am constantly experiencing an increasing sense of unreality. It resembles the Baudrillard’s simulacra and simulation theory and Disneyland, which had to emerge in the United States, in order to make this completely unrealistic life a reality. Therefore Mérimée's “Lokis” can be regarded as a kind of protomocumentary.

Another key word is POSTTRUTH, which in 2016 was recognized as the word of the year by the Oxford dictionaries. It is mostly related to politics, but it is becoming more and more important to other areas of our medialized life.

When does man become a beast and vice versa?

In the case of “Lokis” we should probably rephrase the question, especially if we look at the novella from the position of the anthropocentric era. Of course, Mérimée uses the image of a beast in a specific context. He develops his drama according to the culture-nature line, adhering to the principles of romanticism. I do not know if such a division is still relevant in the modern world. In a beast, the 19^th century man saw his numerous fears: the fear of the unknown, the fear of things that are beyond his control, things that do not succumb to his analysis based on common sense.

I feel that along with the development of science, our fears have moved to other areas as well.

The rapid development of neurobiology and nanotechnology, the growing understanding of how our brain functions, and the inevitable creation of artificial intelligence, are factors redrawing the map of our fears in the contemporary consciousness.  

The performance was created by a large group of Polish artists. All actors are Lithuanian. How did you develop this team? What was important to you in the selection process?

Most of the members of the team from Poland are interdisciplinary artists from the “Identity Problem Group”, which we set up six years ago. We create joint theater productions, multimedia installations, short films and forms of marginal art. Long-term collaborative work gives us the opportunity to continue the search both in the formal field and in the development of various idioms that are especially important in our work. This is our second project with the French set designer Fabien Lédé, and our first cooperation with the famous young Polish choreographer Paweł Sakowicz.

Selecting the actors was the hardest. We agreed that we would organize an open audition and the actors’ interest in it exceeded our wildest expectations. The theater received more than a hundred applications. During auditions, the most important thing for me was meeting the artists rather than looking at the range of their abilities as actors. We would talk for a long time, and then the actors would be left alone in front of the movie camera – without any task or role. We had not set any time period that each participant had to spend in the audition room. Anka Herbut and I left Vilnius really impressed by the multitude of great artists we had had the opportunity of meeting, carrying hours of film footage. Using these meetings as a basis, we tried to create an artistic situation that would allow us to reveal the topics we were focusing on.

Dovilė, Algis and Teklė – respectively responsible for the costumes, lights and assisting the playwright – joined the creative team from the Lithuanian side.

Your process of working with the actors was a very long and interesting one. What can you say about them? How different are Lithuanian actors from Polish actors, if at all?

In every project, one of the most important things to me is having a very long rehearsal period. I have to create a common micro-world, set common goals together with the creative team and the actors, create an environment and a language that would help us move in that environment easily. I never come to the first rehearsal with a pre-written script in my hands – all the elements of the performance are developed in the rehearsal process, with the participation of the whole group. Therefore, the beginning can often be the hardest, requiring trust from both sides, openness to the unknown and things that can emerge during improvisations. Speaking of “Lokis”, we could feel the actors’ extraordinary commitment to the project all the time: from the hours-long conversations, motion exercises and improvisations to the first rehearsals with a movie camera. We were partners having a common creative adventure, eager to express our thoughts and determined to share responsibility for the outcome.

You are a polyphonic director: you create video projections for Krystian Lupa’s productions (in Lithuania you were awarded with the Golden Cross of the Stage scene for video projections for the Heroes’ Square) as well as your own plays. How do you combine or, to be more precise, separate all these activities?

At first, there were interdisciplinary projects where I was responsible for directing, the script, lights, translation, and sometimes I would be the producer. In several productions, I was a coauthor of the set design and lighting. Together with the IP Group, we have created many projects that were presented at film festivals and contemporary art exhibitions. I don’t want to close myself in the theater, and interdisciplinary projects seem far more interesting to me than theatrical performances. For several years now, I have been making video projections for Krystian Lupa’s productions. In general, I feel the most comfortable in the video environment and cannot imagine our performances without this tool. I express my thoughts with the help of the camera – it plays a different, special role in each project. Of course, the term “video” hides a whole set of imaging techniques or devices, based on which we try to create our own narrative; I mean Kinect, VR equipment, various ways to transmit and recreate the video signal in current time. Working in different areas and in different contexts really allows you to keep the freshness of your perspective and protects you from getting stuck in a rut.

What does Krystian Lupa mean to you? Why do you want to work with him? Is it a school of life?

I began as Krystian Lupa’s assistant and translator more than ten years ago. Without a doubt, this creative meeting was of utmost importance to me and had an incredible impact on my life. Krystian Lupa is an artist who does not accept compromises. His commitment to his theater may even seem scary to a young artist. But he seems to draw from an endless source: in every project with a maniacal scrupulousness he creates his infinite imagery world anew. He is often called the youngest theater director in Poland. Everyone wants to know his secret.