Adaptation translated from English by Agnė PULOKAITĖ
“She wanted a son; (...) she would have named him Georges, and the thought of giving birth to a boy felt to her like long-awaited revenge for all the helplessness in her previous life. At least a man is free (...) She gave birth on Sunday around six in the morning, as the sun was rising.
“It’s a girl!” said Charles."
One of the reasons why Gustave Flaubert’s novel “Madame Bovary” remains so relevant is that the desires of the main character, Emma, are not entirely her own. They originate from a patriarchal imagination that shapes her understanding of love, happiness, beauty, and self-realization. What appears to be deeply personal is, in fact, shaped by social expectations long before her so-called personal choice is even articulated.
Today, this process can be described as a social algorithm: a network of cultural narratives, images, and norms that silently influences all our aspirations and fantasies. Today's social media news feeds and recommendation systems function much like the romance novels Emma reads. They constantly present models of passion, success, and happiness, teaching us not only what to desire but also how to desire it. Emma’s tragedy lies not in her overly ambitious desires, but in her pursuit of ideals that were imposed upon her. In this sense, she is no exception, but a surprisingly modern figure, caught between the promise of individual freedom and the invisible forces that shape her desires.
Oliver Frljić, one of Europe’s most prominent directors—often dubbed a “theatrical provocateur” by critics—who previously staged a production of Franz Kafka’s "The Metamorphosis" at the Lithuanian National Drama Theater, now presents a new adaptation and a new work based on Gustave Flaubert’s novel "Madame Bovary".
According to the director, Emma’s downfall in this piece is neither a moral failure nor the fate of a victim — it stems from a contradiction at the very core of existence: the character is driven to yearn for freedom, romance, and self-realization, yet the very society that creates these desires offers very few ways to fulfill them. Emma’s struggle takes place between what she has been taught to desire and what the world allows her to become.
“Rather than judging Emma, this play explores the mechanisms that create her. It views "Madame Bovary" not only as the story of one woman’s unfulfillment, but also as an examination of the social forces that shape our desires. Emma’s fate reveals how identity, fantasies, and ambitions are shaped by the narratives we inherit before we have even recognized them as our own.
Another reason this story feels so contemporary is that we never quite know whose voice we are hearing. Sometimes a sentence seems to belong to the narrator, and then suddenly it sounds like Emma’s thought, a social cliché, or even our own judgment as readers. Flaubert constantly blurs these boundaries, making it difficult to distinguish observation from desire, irony from sincerity, or criticism from identification. “Instead of telling us what to think about Emma, the novel draws us into the language that shapes her,” says Oliver Frljić, the author and director of the adaptation.
Oliver Frljić (b. 1976) is one of Europe’s most prominent theater artists—a director, actor, and playwright—often referred to by critics as the “theater provocateur.” On stage, he typically raises complex and socially uncomfortable questions, speaks out sharply on social issues, and in his work most often responds to current problems and situations. Few of his productions have caused quite a stir in society, such as his 2013 play about anti-Semitism in Poland—which was canceled at the Old Theater in Kraków and became a major and scandalous event in neighboring Poland—or the 2017 production of "The Curse" at the Powszechny Theater in Warsaw. The director is invited to work at various theaters and is also in residence at the Gorki Theater in Berlin.
