This play was staged for the first time in Lithuania, and it was performed at the Klaipėda Drama Theater on September 8 last year. presented by young generation director Adams Juška. In October of this year, during the tour, the Klaipėda Drama Theater brought “Vakaru krantinė” to Vilnius for a single performance, but after the screening, I thought that this play should travel more often. It is true that this is a performance before which the audience should also do their homework, only they are a bit more complicated than buying tickets.
The first homework for the viewer is to get to know the playwright himself, who, in this case, is truly exceptional. Bernard-Marie Koltès, who died at the age of 41, left much too early, but all the plays he managed to create are appreciated not only in France, but also far beyond. From his plays, Lithuanians should already be familiar with “Roberto Zucco” (produced by Oskar Koršunov, as well as August Gornatkevičius and others) and “The Loneliness of the Cotton Fields” (actor John Malkovich came to Lithuania with this play), and now the list is joined by “West Quay”.
It is important to know that all the plays of this playwright are connected with the key themes of the author himself – loneliness, unfulfilled desires and existentialism. His plays often deal with people’s alienation, violence and social exclusion, reflecting the playwright’s own personal experiences in a conservative society.
One can feel that Bernard-Marie Koltès was greatly influenced by the traditions of existentialism and the absurd, the author undoubtedly drew inspiration from Jean Genet or Samuel Beckett. On the other hand, it is the style of Bernard-Marie Koltès that is characterized by lyrical intensity and philosophical depth, often creating a sense of ambiguity and unresolved tension. Therefore, before entering the theater hall, where a performance based on this author’s plays is being shown that evening, it is a good idea to carry at least this bundle of information with you in your pocket.
The second unofficial homework for the audience is to come to the performance to be prepared to dig deeper and walk your part of the road towards the point where the author of the play, the actors, the director’s vision and the scenography meet. The actors, the director and the scenographer go their part of the way this time with a lot of effort, but if the audience sits and waits for them to be stimulated by the image, sound and the simplest possible scenes, the connection will not happen. Yes, certain silent expectations are always placed on the viewer, but in this case, if you are tormented by thoughts of the weekend, fatigue or lack of sleep, it is better to postpone the visit and viewing for another time, because the world and reality suggested by Bernard-Marie Koltès are not ones that you come to easily or especially for a non-binding stay. The last reflection and paragraph arose during the break of the performance after hearing the phrase “what are we all doing here, what is this performance all about” – these are paper-thin questions that the audience should be able to answer themselves. But if he doesn’t know what he’s doing in the theater in the evening, it’s really not the job of the play or its creators to draw landmarks.
Returning to the performance itself and the “stepping out of the comfort zone” mentioned at the beginning of the text, it perceptibly starts with the director. A. Juška, a student of one of the most prominent Lithuanian directors, Eimuntas Nekrošias, already has his own vivid theatrical language, is able to use symbols cleverly, but also in a modern way, to construct effective and long-remembered scenes. On the other hand, in the case of this performance, the zone into which Bernard-Marie Koltès brings the director does not seem very comfortable.
For example, in the play “Fictions”, which was shown at the Vilnius Youth Theater, you could clearly feel the creative freedom of A. Juška, it was a completely evenly absorbed work in which the director controlled the scenes, actors, symbols and general rhythm.
On the other hand, “West Quay” is a difficult new challenge for the director, but A. Juška reveals his directorial style most clearly in the second part of the play. In the first part, the director seems to be looking for compromises with the tone set by Bernard-Marie Koltès, while the second half of the performance is the part where we see the director’s vision and precise decisions. I don’t want to discuss them in detail, so as not to deprive or spoil the impression, but A. Juška aptly encodes some things in the first part of the performance, which later unexpectedly trigger in the second. Therefore, the mere search or interpretation of such connections becomes a gratifying discovery when analyzing the performance.
Domo Rimeika’s photo/Klaipėda Drama Theater/”West Embankment”
It is also worth noting that some of Bernard-Marie Koltès’s plays, and among them certainly “The West Bank”, do not always lend themselves easily to direction, as the playwright insists on concreteness or precision. For example, in the play “West Bank” it is very clear that one of the characters must necessarily be a black actor. Therefore, certain reservations cannot be avoided when staging plays by this author, regardless of the direction.
Another challenge of “Vakāru krantinė” is shared by both the actors of the play and the director. This is the absence of main characters. When watching a performance, it is very difficult to weigh which actors or their characters become more important, because everyone is important, in equal parts. There aren’t many plays like this, because when one or more of the main characters aren’t there, then the action usually doesn’t move anywhere at all, because the main characters are supposed to push it. The action of “West Bank” moves, but so slowly that you need a microscope – all the shifts in the play occur through the interaction of all the equally important characters with each other. Each character acting in the play increases the separation from each other and the general feeling of alienation, which becomes the all-pervading theme. The inability to hear each other reaches its highest point several times in the second part of the play, but it happens in both more active and quieter scenes. For this, you want to sincerely admire both the actors and the director.
Klaipėda Drama Theater presents actors of different generations in the performance, who also form a well-matched contrast with each other. For example, Darius Meškauskas, who played Moris Koch, plays confidently, precisely and effectively, which suits the character very well. Digna Kulionytė, the student of the director Oskars Koršunov at the time, who plays Claire, is completely free, able to control her energy on stage and is naturally persuasive.
There are more such contrasts, and among them we can mention Renata Idzelytė’s Monika and Eglė Barauskaitė’s Sesilė or Igor Reklaitis’s Rudolf and Lauryno Luotė’s Fak.
Domo Rimeika’s photo/”Vakarus krantinė”
As written in the play, the play features Abad, played by Michaël Nkenda – this actor never directly speaks any language to the other characters, but his presence on the stage is always well woven into the overall action.
However, the most striking impression is left by Donatas Želvys and his character Šarlis. His interactions with the other characters become increasingly sticky with each scene, but the subtle acting helps reveal the tragedy of the character’s own loss. The character who is crushed by alienation even with the closest people wants to be remembered, but there are no tools to achieve this, the friction between all the characters and the general tension created is too strong. This performance, like the play, eventually becomes about uncontrollable doom, the destruction that people create before they can even appreciate where it all started. In the end, it doesn’t even matter anymore, because the darkness that surrounds everything is so thick that you can’t see anything in it even if you make an effort. You can no longer even hear the approaching flood.
Undoubtedly, one of the most striking points of attraction of this performance, which has already been awarded the “Golden Stage Cross”, is the scenography. What set designer Lauryna Liepaitė created for “Vakāru krantinei” often fails to deliver. The performance features multifunctional decorations, among which an impressive harmony is created.
For example, the real water pooling in the middle of the scene, which repeatedly becomes the basis of the director’s skillful decisions, goes well with the cold metal structures. The actors cling to the water, soak it or use it to give meaning to their actions, but at the same time, the water constantly reflects on the surfaces of the hall, it becomes like an additional means of creating and expanding the atmosphere.
Domo Rimeika’s photo/Klaipėda Drama Theater/”West Embankment”
Also surprising is the long metal tunnel resembling a human silhouette, which during the performance is often moved or turned in unexpected ways, changing the entire space. So, the scenography in this play is so good that if you don’t want to delve into the characters or the play, but if you like to look at spectacular things, you can just come and feast your eyes on the scenographic solutions of “Váčarus krantinės”. It is true that lighting artist Julius Kuršis, the author of the artistic production of video projections, Kornelijs Jaroševičius and costume designer Nunilo Rumbutis also contribute to this unique created image.
Finally, remembering the performance as a whole, its visual execution and the drenched clothes of the actors, one really gets the impression that this is a strong production of a particular play by Bernard-Marie Koltès. Is it for everyone and is it worth rushing to the theater without knowing anything? In this case, there cannot be one answer, because everything depends very much on the viewer. Probably, before entering the hall, you should familiarize yourself with at least one of the author’s plays, feel and understand the rules of his game. Because there is no single standard, simply not liking darker or more emotionally dense performances, even a good production, as in this case, can backfire.
Also, the whole performance is quite uniquely filled with Klaipėda – “West Quay” has that feeling that suits this city, watching the action it seems that it could be some abandoned Klaipėda dock, people hiding in its shadow, with overlapping identities, and the man who came to commit suicide is a former celebrity the country’s businessman. The natural water effect, the director’s well-chosen 80’s song and sometimes slower pauses create a lasting impression. Sitting on this quay, you want to think even longer, to think about the cracks of alienation in society, but everything will soon be washed away like a flood by waves of new information, sensations or experiences.
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#Alienation #washed #flood #review #play #West #Bank #Culture
