Iwan Wyrypajew. DRUNKS

Translated from Russian by Gintaras Grajauskas

Fourteen characters – from a film festival director to a prostitute, from bankers with wives to young female models – find themselves in the most absurd situations overnight. What they have in common is not only that each character is drunk: one was at a bachelor party, another is coming home after a banquet, and the third tried to forget his troubles by drinking at home with friends. Drunkenness not only encourages openness – unexpected conversations develop about true love and the desire to live without fear – but also allows them to confront the understanding of the idea of the divine.

The playwright Iwan Wyrypajew experiments with a theatrical language based on a completely new aesthetic: while he speaks about the harsh reality that surrounds us, he brings poetry back to the theatre. What makes this production fascinating is that this is the first time that Wyrypajew himself will direct his own play "The Drunk Ones". The production addresses the European population, which has been in turmoil and depression lately, those who have lost or are about to lose faith in higher values and the meaning of life, and those who have thrown up their hands in the struggle against the imperfection of the world.

Iwan Wyrypajew (born 1974) is an actor, director, playwright, and one of the most innovative and important contemporary playwrights in Europe. Born in Irkutsk, Russia, he currently lives in Poland, holds Polish citizenship, and works in various European theatres. Wyrypajew's plays have been produced all over Europe, including the United States. Wyrypajew has won various awards for his work in theatre and has recently made a name for himself in contemporary European cinema. His feature film "Euphoria" won the Little Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival in 2006.