Lukasz Twarkowski's new play ‘Quanta’ will open LNDT's 85th season

On 13 September, the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre (LNDT) will open its 85th season with a premiere at the Great Hall. The new play ‘Quanta’ will be presented by director Lukasz Twarkowski, who started his international directing career at the LNDT - his 2017 production ‘Lokis’ won four Golden Stage Crosses – National Theatre prizes in Lithuania.

In 2020, Twarkowski invited the audience to a completely different format of the performance ‘Respublika’, which took place in the ‘Cinema Cluster’ and immersed the audience in the action, involving them in the life of a commune looking for alternative ways of survival. "It seemed a crazy idea to create a play like ‘Respublika’ during a pandemic. However, that vision came true and became very recognisable piece of Łukasz Twarkowski's, bringing him into the ranks of the most famous creators of today's Europe, and putting LNDT's name among the most important producers who not only invite the biggest stars of the theatre world, but also help them to come into being", says Martynas Budraitis, the General Manager of LNDT.

This time, the director Twarkowski focuses on quantum physics and again wants to empower all the senses of the audience: "I'm not interested in what happens on stage, I'm interested in what happens in the audience's heads. That's why we use a hybrid theatre approach, where we combine different tools - sound design, music, blurring the boundaries between video projections, cinema, live acting and choreography - to create a unique experience, to find a unique language that no longer represents a script, no longer tells a story, but works on sensory levels."

In ‘Quanta’, the audience is transported to an inter-war hotel in the Swiss mountains, where very strange things happen overnight. The physical properties of space and time are disrupted. The hotel guests themselves - quantum physicists, artists and other visitors - are also affected. Something begins to change in their memories, attitudes, emotions and desires. Nobody understands what is happening.

What is meant by "quantum"? The word quantum (dgs. quanta) is Latin for "how much". In physics, quantum describes the smallest portion that can be held. Life is made up of quanta of events. Events happen one after the other, arranged in a story. We call this life, biography, destiny. Time governs each story and makes stories intelligible.

Joanna Bednarczyk wrote the play: "I consider quantum physics to be a philosophical, existential, meaningful science. I think quantum physics has an interesting history. The most striking, surprising discoveries and new formulas came during the two world wars or between the wars. Those discoveries were applied to warfare, and the advances in this science led to the atomic bomb. But, in my opinion, the philosophical and existential implications of this science have not affected the human perspective. Well, at least not to the same extent as Newton's discoveries, which established the ideology of capitalism. Quantum physics is quite the opposite.

From an anthropocentric, capitalist point of view, people think they know everything and can find cause and effect, but quantum physics teaches that there are things that are just random and shows what it means to live in a non-finite, non-deterministic world."

"Quantum physics is very interesting because it requires you to think differently, to forget everything you knew about physics. When you start thinking about quantum physics, you think it's just not possible because it's based on contradictions, it has no logic. However, one discovers how beautiful it is because it allows one to believe in free will. It says that at the subatomic level things are random. And believe it or not, there is simply no reason. It can make you feel depressed or extremely happy because there is no predeterministic way of thinking. It's a never-ending process that is happening now", says director Lukasz Twarkowski.

In play we will see actors who have already worked with the director: Vainius Sodeika, Nelė Savičenko, Rytis Saladžius, Airida Gintautaitė, Rasa Samuolytė, Algirdas Dainavičius, Martynas Nedzinskas, Gediminas Rimeika, as well as new creators: Rimantė Valiukaitė, Arūnas Vozbutas, Aistė Zabotkaitė and Marius Čižauskas.

The scenographer of the performance is Fabien Lede, who created the scenery for "Lokis" and "Respublika", the video designer is also Twarkowski's constant companion Jakub Lech, the costume designer is Svenja Gassen, the composer is Lubomir Grzelak, the lighting designer is Eugenijus Sabaliauskas, the choreographer is Paweł Sakowicz.

"Quanta" is created in cooperation with Onassis Culture Athens (screenings of the play are scheduled in the Greek capital in the fall), as well as the international theater festival "Boska Komedia", the De Singel Theater in Antwerp and the National Theater in Brno in the Czech Republic, the sponsor of the play: the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in Poland. The creation of the performance is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, dramaturgical research was supported by "Onassis Air", the partner of the performance is "NewError".

The premiere of the Lithuanian National Drama Theater play "Quanta" will take place in the Great Hall on September 13 and 14. In October, the performance will be shown in Athens, in December - in Krakow, and in February - again in Vilnius.

Pictures from rehearsals by Fabien Lede: