2016–2017 season

Marathon 77


So you run, huh? From pain, from problems, from unpleasant information, away from refugees, from horror stories, from nuclear power plants and myths, from violent deaths and their causes, from the dying: people, villages, ideas – on the double! There is no story: just running. Just running. So, in the theater we, too, will run: at full speed through the premiere marathon. Just in the opposite direction: not from but to. The goal of this year’s Lithuanian National Drama Theatre marathon is to awaken the audience from running in their dreams. Those who open their eyes will see – our boat is as it is. The question is what do we do with all that?

We do not have the answers, do not know them or pretend to know them. We are only creating a medium for asking questions and gathering answers. We create conditions for a marathon into yourself. Performances running one after the other raise questions to which, we believe, the viewers will find answers. Our goal is to reduce, if not totally eliminate, the fear of speaking. The therapy of our performances is allowing them to open up before the audience. To create space for a new kind of intimacy. Hoping that the recovering mirror of society will help its reflection heal.

We seek to create a theater that would embrace theatrical paints and brushes as well as experiments and the classics, and drama, and playwrights, and documentaries, and documents. The Lithuanian terms are only emerging, but on the stage, an indeterminate action is already taking place. It is important for us to create conditions for things to appear. To provide an opportunity to breathe for artisans as well as apprentices. To give a chance to make a mistake and to learn from it. To create conditions for interactive tours and performances, for applied theater research and education, for playwrights’ creative workshops, seminars and artists residencies, play readings and theatre summer schools, for integration of socially vulnerable people and conversations not connected to theater and bringing back to theater.

 

Martynas Budraitis

Director General of the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre

 

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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.

Curiosity – a soul organ located in the area of the nose. Curiosity is strongly connected to openness and sharply affects courage. Most of the images, smells and sounds recorded by curiosity are moved to another organ – nostalgia, where they are stored surrounded by the nebula of oblivion. The levels of curiosity in people can be very different – in some, it is the highest in childhood, while others maintain a consistent level of curiosity throughout life. Curiosity stimulates creativity and quenches the thirst for information. It is one of the most important factors for constant development. When the organ is inflamed, one begins to act importunately and poke one’s nose in other people’s business.

Intuition is located at the top of the soul organ system and is known as the olfaction of the soul. It runs independently of the other organs. This soul organ communicates with the universe, captures information and transmits it to other organs of the soul via a complex system, suddenly activating them, for example, love at first sight. A well-developed intuition helps make the right decisions.

Conscience – a soul organ/filter composed of two constantly pulsating, tightening and loosening elements, which sift feelings and experiences. When conscience is twisted, one becomes filled with sorrow, which disappears only after new pure experiences are let through the filter. The activity of the organ manifests itself through signals of conscience. When manipulations, lies and hypocrisy twist the conscience, its owner develops a serious form of tartuffeism, characterized by opportunism and immorality.

Courage – a soul organ tightly twisted around self-esteem; has tentacles at the bottom that are attached to trust. This organ is activated in situations that are marginal and (or) require personal decisions. Courage can be strengthened through specific techniques, such as intolerance of injustice – listening to the voice of conscience; engagement in another person’s situation – development of compassion. Due to the wrong priorities, courage can degenerate into arrogance and folly.

Desire – an organ of the soul, whose structure is reminiscent of a web, and the form – of a hammock. In its steadily active phase it lightly rocks the other organs of the soul, giving them an additional impetus and making a constructive impact. When inflamed, tends to get out of control, reaches full swing and begins to chap. Overheated it completely unbalances all the other soul organs and brings destruction, but this soul organ has a unique quality to remain young and be regenerated.

Openness – a soul organ that is one of the simplest in form, and the most mystical in impact. Usually functions perfectly in childhood. During adolescence, there is a risk of a temporary disorder, which, if untreated, may partially or fully disable the organ. To foster openness, it is recommended to consume things that create the feeling of the freedom of spirit and freshness, and relieve pressure in the soul. Sincere conversations, an absolute change of the environment and a different approach to the usual contexts have been proven to help.