In total, LNDT plans to present six new stage works in its 87th season. The first premiere – “Madam Bovary”, directed by Oliver Frljićius, a Croatian director already familiar to the Lithuanian audience, based on Gustave Flaubert’s novel, will take place in the Small Hall on September 16. On November 19 and 20, Kamilė Gudmonaitė will return to the Grand Hall with a work based on Sophocles’ tragedy “Antigone”. Tickets for both premieres, as well as other LNDT autumn performances, are available for purchase starting today.
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Instead of holding a press conference or another large public presentation of premieres, LNDT decided to invite viewers to learn about the premieres firsthand and to hold individual, personal conversations with their favorite actors or members of the LNDT art council.
The most loyal LNDT viewers (those who purchased 9 or more tickets in the last two years) were given priority to register for a conversation with a chosen person and to discuss the upcoming performances, already seen stage works, and the general direction of the theatre in a simple, detailed, and personal manner.
The conversations took place on Friday, June 5, at the “Nacionalinė” cafe located in the theatre. Each conversation lasted 20 minutes. The actors who will perform in the upcoming plays spoke about them: Kęstutis Cicėnas, Dainius Gavenonis, Žygimantė Jakštaitė, Vaidilė Juozaitytė, Augustė Pociūtė, Marius Repšys, Martynas Nedzinskas, as well as General Director Martynas Budraitis and some members of the LNDT art council shaping its artistic direction: playwright Mindaugas Nastaravičius, actresses Rasa Samuolytė and Aistė Zabotkaitė.
According to Martynas Budraitis, General Director of LNDT, the 87th season raises the question of the cyclical nature of time and the eternally recurring present – in the upcoming performances, the creators’ attention will be directed not so much to the signs of the present time, but to man and his contradictions, the themes of our nature and destiny.
“This season, we begin to implement a long-term vision for the theatre: to present at least a few performances each year centered on the best dramaturgy or prose, interpreted not just as a source of inspiration, but truly staged, seeking a contemporary form while preserving classical depth. This also reveals another direction for LNDT – choosing plays written today, staged on world stages, whose themes also seem timeless, resting on fundamental questions. And the third, I would say, fundamental decision of the theatre is its focus on national dramaturgy. We aim for this attention not to be accidental, which is why each year we will present several premieres where the most prominent will be Lithuanian historical, mythological narrative, our memory, and the present,” says Martynas Budraitis.
September – “Madam Bovary”
The season will open with a premiere in the Small Hall on September 16 by Oliver Frljićius – one of Europe’s most prominent theatre creators, a director, actor, author, often called a theatre provocateur by critics. He is creating an adaptation of Gustave Flaubert’s novel “Madame Bovary” titled “Madam Bovary”.
One of the reasons why Gustave Flaubert’s novel “Madame Bovary” remains so relevant, according to the creator, is that the desires of the main character, Emma, are not entirely her own. They stem from a patriarchal imagination that articulates how she understands love, happiness, beauty, and self-realization. What seems very personal is, in fact, shaped by social expectations long before her supposedly personal choice is articulated.
Modern social media news feeds and recommendation systems function like the romantic novels Emma read. They constantly present models of passion, success, and happiness, teaching not only what to desire but also how to desire. Emma’s tragedy lies not in excessive desires, but in the pursuit of ideals that were imposed upon her.
The play “Madam Bovary” will feature LNDT actors Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė, Augustė Pociūtė, Vainius Sodeika, Gediminas Rimeika, Rasa Samuolytė, Neringa Bulotaitė, Šarūnas Rapolas Meliešius.
November – “Antigone”
It seems that not long ago we lived in a time where it felt like we had learned the lessons of history. Yet today, the worst-case scenarios described in textbooks are returning to reality. Where to turn for answers? Where to look when not-so-distant history tries to become our future? Born in the cradle of democracy – ancient Greece – Sophocles’ tragedy “Antigone” reveals an eternal clash of values, a conflict of two political truths, to which director Kamilė Gudmonaitė turns her gaze.
In the play “Antigone”, Antigone and Creon confront each other – two characters representing different directions. Antigone is the liberal, fighting and protesting side for rights, freedom, and dignity, while Creon is the ruler of populism, of the right-wing. The tragedy proves more relevant than ever, opening up an intellectual European perspective, showing how the search for truth is contrasted with its construction. But in our multi-voiced world, can we fundamentally still speak of only two truths?
The premiere of “Antigone” is scheduled for November 19 and 20. The roles in this play are created by Aistė Zabotkaitė, Dainius Gavenonis, Vaidilė Juozaitytė, Kęstutis Cicėnas, Marius Michailas Repšys, Salvijus Trepulis, Arvydas Dapšys.
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In the second half of the season, LNDT plans to invite audiences to premieres directed by Augustas Gornatkevičius, Kotryna Siaurusaitytė, Rokas Lažaunykas, and Birutė Banevičiūtė. More information about them will be provided in the autumn. In spring, a contemporary dramaturgy festival “Versmė”, which until now was organized in November, is also planned.
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More information about LDNT performances and repertoire – www.teatras.l
