In October, Lithuanian Theatre Information Centre invites you to Paris. Lithuanian Theatre Information Centre will present an exclusive “Focus Lituanie” programme at the “Théâtre de la Ville”, one of the city’s most important theatres. Around 40 plays and performances will be on offer. Over 3 weekends, Parisian audiences will have the opportunity to discover theatre, dance, new opera and music performances for all age groups, both in the theatre’s various halls and in the squares surrounding it.
„Focus Lituanie” is part of the programme of the Lithuanian Season in France 2024.
We invite you to take a look at the “Focus Lituanie” programme:
Focus on Lithuania
September 29, 2024
LAUNCHING DAY
11:00, 19:00 Place du Chatelet, Theatre de la Ville-Sarah Bernhardt
Theatre
October 2-4, 2024
FOSSILIA
Eglė Švedkauskaitė, Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, French premier
20:00 Les Abbesses
THREE GENERATIONS OF A FAMILY GO BACK TO A DIFFICULT PAST, TO THE TIME OF SOVIET MASS DEPORTATIONS TO SIBERIA.
When the country was part of the Soviet Union, many Lithuanians suffered the trauma of being sent to camps in Siberia. These years of exile left such scars that many have refused to speak about it. The play does this, and brilliantly so, showing a father who is reluctant to recall the past, but who is confronted with the facts when his children come across a document buried in the garden. The work is based on Fossilia, a book of memoirs by the physicist Dalia Grinkevičiūtė who explains how the younger generation of Lithuanians need to go back over the history of their country to gain a greater awareness of the benefits of living in an open and democratic society.
Hugues Le Tanneur
Young audience
October 3-5, 2024
THE BIG BANG
Zvi Sahar, Klaipėda Puppet Theatre
10:00, 11:00, 14:30, 17:00, 19:00 TDV-Sarah Bernhardt – La Coupole
AN ECOLOGICAL TALE, GOING BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF THE UNIVERSE, FEATURING MINIATURE PUPPETS AND WARNING OF THE URGENT NEED TO TAKE ACTION ON THE CLIMATE CRISIS.
Here, on just one of a number of planets that came out of the Big Bang, we discover the everyday life of a mini-robot and its dog living in a world made entirely of metallic, electronic devices. Everything should be fine in such a high-tech electronic universe as designed by the Klaipėda Puppet Theatre, but suddenly it starts raining: torrential rain that looks as if it will never stop. Disaster lies ahead as water is not the best companion for metal and electricity. How can they save the day? Using puppets made from all sorts of recycled material then filmed and projected onto a screen, the show investigates the mystery of how living beings develop, and with an element of humor raises the critical question of the measures needed to deal with climate change.
Hugues Le Tanneur
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5plbynJ3YY
Theatre
October 8-9, 2024
SPORTS GROUP
Gabrielė Labanauskaitė, Gailė Griciūtė, Viktorija Damerell, Operomanija
20:00 Les Abbesses
INSIDE A GYM, WITH ALL THE BODY-BUILDING GEAR ARE MUSICIANS PLAYING ALL THE NOTES ON A SCORE WRITTEN FOR INSTRUMENTS NEVER SEEN OR HEARD BEFORE.
A gym is a curious concert venue, but it is this type of setting chosen for a musical performance based on the sounds of balls bouncing in a basketball match. Weird instruments produce what seems to be a basso continuo for a concert with a wonderful difference. The threesome who devised the original work cannot hide their sense of irony. The three women based the work on real-life moments as experienced in gyms and on sports fields, and even ideas found in blogs. These were transformed to make syncopated vocal scores and fun sounds produced on instruments they made themselves. And the fun is contagious.
Hugues Le Tanneur
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfNxe3sryS0&t=1s
Young audiences
October 9-12, 2024
UNSEEN WORLD
Birutė Banevičiūtė, Dansema Dance Theatre
10:30, 16:00 TDV-Sarah Bernhardt_ Les OEillets
A SHOW PRESENTED AS AN EXPLORATION FOR ADVENTUROUS BABIES, DESIGNED TO AROUSE CURIOSITY AND THE SENSES.
The idea is to participate, but is there an age limit for this show intended for the very youngest of audiences? Choreography is normally designed to be seen, but in Unseen World (for babies) it is the sense of touch and other sensations that encourage babies to have their first experience of the performing arts. Not a word is spoken. Giedrė Subotinaitė and Agnė Ramanauskaitė dance through the space on stage, matching the tempo and energy of their movements. Together with elements in the set and features of the costumes, they all have an effect on the babies who, with the stimulus triggering their perception of colors, shapes, and areas, gradually become involved in what is happening on stage and, synchronizing with the two dancers, they explore the world around them.
Hugues Le Tanneur
Dance
October 10-12, 2024
RICHARD OURAMDANE, DOVYDAS STRIMAITIS
Lora/Hairy French premiere
20:00 TDV-Sarah Bernhardt – Great hall
TWO WORKS DRIVING PHYSICAL CONTROL TO THE EDGE IN A WHIRLING PROGRAM WITH HAIR TAKING FLIGHT TO LEAD THE WAY.
When Rachid Ouramdane met Lora Juodkaite he was fascinated by the Lithuanian woman who launched into incandescent gyrations, not to set records, but from inner force. The repeated whirling takes her to the bounds of her innermost self, in states of dazzling brilliance. The choreographer has composed a sharp solo in the style of a portrait: a woman is seen merging into herself and the air around her. Her hair takes flight, but underneath has she found a connection to the cosmos? For three years at the Ballet national de Marseille, Dovydas Strimaitis impressed audiences with her performances in original works by (LA)HORDE as her hair driven by centrifugal force came to symbolize freedom, defying any situation attempting to impose values, whether political, cultural or emotional. Heads will certainly be spinning.
Thomas Hahn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg3QyIVsf_o
Theatre
October 12-13, 2024
FEAST
Kamilė Gudmonaitė, OKT Theatre
15:00, 16:00, 19:00 TDV-Sarah Bernhardt – La Coupole
A POWERFUL AND DIVERTING PERFORMANCE PRESENTING A PERCEPTIVE AND THOUGHTFUL VIEW OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH DISABILITY.
The audience will be attending an unusual feast in this original work by Kamilė Gudmonaitė. The set-up has three sides where the audience is not directly confronted with actors with disability, but rather is invited to spend a special moment with them. The initial idea was to focus on people whose life is often hidden away in a country – Lithuania – where 9% of the population are living with disability. The protagonists present their experience, immediately getting the audience on side, and while they add a touch of humor, this only partially offsets the difficulties they have to cope with. Their stories show how misunderstandings have an effect on their everyday existence, but also helps strike the right balance, or even change the entire relationship between people considered to be “normal” or “abnormal.”
Hugues Le Tanneur
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt3npZ3WN0U
Music
October 13, 2024
RAKIJA KLEZMER ORKESTAR
17:00 TDV-Sarah Bernhardt – Great hall
THE LITHUANIAN GROUP, TOGETHER WITH FRANCE’S KLEZMER PIONEERS, HAVE TACKLED SORROWS OF THE PAST, REVIVING HAUNTING YIDDISH MELODIES AND THE FURIOUS BEAT OF THE BALKANS.
Vilnius, once acclaimed as the Jerusalem of the North, is where these young musicians set off to track down what was left of klezmer music in Lithuania, to find what remained of a once flourishing Jewish culture now lost to posterity. There are no music scores left, and very few written records, but the group was inspired by the revival of interest in this music in Europe and the United States, so they embarked on their endeavor. Their expertise as instrumentalists and brilliant talent as improvisers did the rest. In France, pianist Denis Cuniot is a pioneer of the klezmer revival and with violinist Bruno Girard (cofounder of Bratsch) and Rémy Yulzari (composer and double bass player) they are classically trained musicians bringing their virtuoso skills to express the soul of klezmer. Their music will echo in parallel and together with the Lithuanians perform in a joyful joint venture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybCZv4TTeGE
Dance
October 19-20, 2024
HANDS UP
Agnietė Lisičkinaitė, Be Company
15:00 TDV-Sarah Bernhardt – Hall
WHETHER DANCING OR MARCHING IN A STREET PROTEST, HANDS ARE RAISED WHEN THE FRONT LINE ADVANCES IN AN INSTINCTIVE MOVEMENT SOMEWHERE BETWEEN RESISTANCE AND RECONCILIATION.
“Hands up” is both a way of describing an action and calling for action. Arms raised express an opinion or an aspiration, political, physical or spiritual. Often for a situation of conflict, it may be a sign warning of violence, either a risk or real violence. The idea here came from the 2020-2021 pro-democracy demonstrations in Minsk in Belarus, only a short distance from Vilnius in Lithuania where Agnietė Lisičkinaitė has been continuing her work breaking down barriers between art and life, and making mass protests by citizens the starting point for an artistic venture challenging the very concept of masses marching. Indeed, any gathering of people will involve physical experiences, even in a theater. What if you raised your arms? Yes you! You could be part of the experience. Would your response be club style? Would you be a rebel, or opt for yoga, or be a believer?
Thomas Hahn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i-3YqvYIbw
Music
October 19-20, 2024
RADVILA DARIUS, SON OF VYTAUTAS
Karolis Kaupinis, Operomanija
17:00, 19:00 TDV-Sarah Bernhardt – La Coupole
WITH LIVE MUSIC BY OUTSTANDING MUSICIANS AND AN INGENIOUS COLLAGE FROM TELEVISION ARCHIVES, THE AUDIENCE IS TAKEN BACK TO EVENTS AT THE TIME WHEN LITHUANIA BROKE AWAY FROM THE FORMER SOVIET UNION.
Karolis Kaupinis has used a selection of images from the Lithuanian television archives to take the audience back to 1989 and 1990, a key moment when Lithuania was freed from Soviet control and could claim independence, as can be seen in a wealth of records from the time: excerpts from TV broadcasts, anonymous eye-witness reports, stormy discussions, emotional responses of the crowds, a report in a school of music, young girls parading as models in front of their despondent mothers, as society at large was shifting into another world that is gradually discovered through an installation conveying plenty of charm and wit. A sound track performed by four jazz musicians provides a counterpoint, while the audience observes the early stages, caught between stifling tradition and aspirations to cast off the past and move towards a new era and a better future.
Hugues Le Tanneur
Focus on Lithuania
October 20, 2024
CLOSING PARTY
Monikaze et Ambulance on Fire, LT Mini.Mad / Julien Grosvalet / Paulette Sauvage DJ, FR
18:00 TDV-Sarah Bernhardt – Hall
„Focus Lituanie” programme is organized by Lithuanian Theatre Information Center together with
Paris „Théâtre de la Ville”, Lithuanian Dance Information Center, Operomanija, Lithuanian Culture Institute, Lithuanian Culture Attache in France and Institut français. Programme is financed by Lithuanian Council for Culture.
Based on „Théâtre de la Ville” and organizers information
*Programme subject to change
#SaisonLituanie2024