For the past few years, the organizers of the festival have been trying to present the dramaturgy of different countries, this year it will be France. In addition to three French plays, festival visitors will have the opportunity to get acquainted with completely new texts written during the playwrights’ residency. All readings will take place in the LNDT Small Hall and will be free of charge.
“November again brings the Versmės festival, which I have been looking forward to for the past few years as a bridge from the darkening Vilnius landscape to brighter images, as a flight to the landscape of another country’s thoughts. The three plays offered by the “Actoral” festival accurately reflect France, as I managed to see during several visits this year, when the connection between Lithuania and France is extremely close due to the Lithuanian cultural season. These texts bring France closer to the here and now. Although the connection is remote, the image does not lag at all.
In Lithuania, French dramaturgy has been loved for a long time, but it is a great joy to introduce completely new authors and their language, style and issues to our theater horizon – personal, but also extremely socially engaged. This year “Versmė” is alive and buzzing, and the plays by Rébecca Chaillon, Sonia Chiambretto and Mathieu Tulissi Gabard pulsate, sparkle and do not leave you indifferent”, says Eglė Švedkauskaitė, one of the artistic directors of LNDT.
French plays will be performed in Vilnius, and on October 8. Dovilė Zavedskaitė’s play “Plains” was presented at the “Actoral” festival in Marseille, which helped create the French program of “Versmės”, which became part of the huge program of the season of Lithuanian culture in France.
“It is nice that the real exchange of plays has finally taken place, when not only we present the dramaturgy of the chosen country, but also the texts of our playwrights resonate with the audience of other countries. Next year, a play by Karolis Kaupinis will be read in Croatian in Zagreb, which he wrote while participating in the European residency program, so we want to believe that Lithuanian texts will travel further and further,” says Agnė Pulokaitė, curator of the residency program and the “Versmė” festival.
Readings of French plays will take place on November 12, 13, 14 and will be directed by Gytis Ivanauskas, Gediminas Rimeika and Rokas Lažaunykas. The second part of the festival (November 15, 16 and 17) will feature readings of new texts written during the international playwrights’ residency initiated by LNDT together with foreign partners. Film director and screenwriter Karolis Kaupinis represented Lithuania at the residency this year. He will direct his play “Lituvian death notices. The story of one performance”. Maite Pérez Astorga, representing the National Theater of Spain, will also direct the reading of her play at the Playwrights’ Residence, while the text of Vedrana Klepica, representing the National Theater of Zagreb, is entrusted to the hands of Urtė Sėjūnaitė.
Photo by D. Matvejev/ Lithuanian National Drama Theatre
In addition, on November 13-14, a creative workshop by Mathieu Tulissi Gabard will be organized for theater professionals or those interested in writing for the stage, which will take place in the LNDT Studio. Pre-registration is required.
The French program is supported by the Actoral festival and the French Institute in Vilnius. The reading of D. Zavedskaitė’s play in Marseille would not have taken place without the contribution of the Lithuanian Institute of Culture.
Program of the contemporary dramaturgy festival VERSMĖ 2024
November 12
A reading of Mathieu Tulissio Gabard’s play Footboys’ Club Split’86
Dir. Rokas Lažaunykas, read by Mindaugas Ancevičius
Mathieu Tulissi Gabard wanted to become a football player, but in the end he chose to study literature. Footboys’ club fracBonnés ’86 is an autobiographical and documentary text about youth football training camps. The play tells about a boy soccer player, about the joy of the game, about the joy of being part of a team, as well as about the dark side – physical abuse, inappropriate behavior of coaches, separation.
November 13
A reading of Rébecca Chaillon’s play The Black Map of Lust
Director – Gytis Ivanauskas, actors: Gytis Ivanauskas, Gerda Čiuraitė, Airida Gintautaitė, Kamilė Petruškevičiūtė, Oneida Kunsunga
The play Black Map of Lust examines black women’s lust and how it is shaped by paradoxical prohibitions and clichés: hypersexuality, exoticization of the body, wild and infantile fantasies. In this colorful play, where poetry meets the fever of insomnia, the author highlights the dominant culture, exposes racism, scalps patriarchal thinking, plays with the heteronormative model of sexuality.
November 14
Reading of Sonia Chiambretto’s play “Police!”
Director – Gediminas Rimeika, actors: Algirdas Dainavičius, Vaidilė Juozaitytė, Laurynas Jurgelis, Rimantė Valiukaitė, Šarūnas Zenkevičius
Sonia Chiambretto has established herself in modern literature as an author of texts in an original form. She often plays with different perspectives, interweaving knowledge with live testimony and archival material to create a raw, musical fabric of text. “Police!” is the author’s fifth play. It is like a poem in which different voices speak about police violence and question our ambiguous relationship with power and authority.
November 15
Reading of Vedrana Klepica’s play “Walls, Gaps and Other Vulgarities”.
The director is Urtė Sėjūnaitė, the actors are: Povilas Budrys, Adrija Čepaitė, Inga Juškevičiūtė, Aurelijs Pocius, Miglė Polikevičiūtė, Vainius Sodeika, Rimantė Valiukaitė, Arūnas Vozbutas.
Elena, an intelligent young woman who works as a freelance curator, spends the night with her lover Robert, an intellectual from a wealthy family. Elena talks about the idea of an immersive performative exhibition that she is preparing in the context of a large European project. The theme of the art exhibition is the idea of HOME in capitalist society and how HOME, i.e. real estate, has become a commodity due to capitalist exploitation and tourism. But Robert laughs at Elena’s project, calling it a watered-down and overgeneralized idea that lacks critical acuity.
November 16
Karolis Kaupinis’s play “Lithuanian Death Notices”. The story of one performance” reading
Director – Karolis Kaupinis, actors: Juozas Budraitis, Marius Čižauskas, Dainius Gavenonis, Aleksas Kazanavičius, Šarūnas Rapolas Meliešius, Rasa Samuolytė, Nelė Savičenko, Aistė Zabotkaitė
A group of theater creators are trying to recreate a legendary theater performance and thus bring fullness back to their own and the theater’s present. But the work is difficult – the actors deal with the issues of love and personal fulfillment, the aging director tries to strike anew, and neither in the performance nor behind the scenes it is possible to capture more than a second of moments of success and happiness. The hope that it is possible to achieve eternal happiness in a temporary world imprisons creators little by little in a theater turning into hell – an eternally temporary performance.
November 17 Reading of Maite Pérez Astorga’s play “Europa keberiokšt”.
The director is Maite Pérez Astorga, the actors are: Algirdas Dainavičius, Rokas Lažaunykas, Dalia Michelevičiūtė, Paulina Taujanskaitė.
This is a travel story. A mother writer travels around Europe in search of an idea for her play. She is accompanied by father and son, grandfather and grandson. The mother decides to write about what she does not understand, about the regression of the collapsing Europe. The grandfather sees the European project he believed in weakening and his own mind withering away. The grandson sees how the European crisis engulfs his mother Europe. Their lives are falling apart. What begins as a political metaphor ends in a cathartic and poetic journey towards personal responsibility. Something opens up. A beacon of light at the edge of darkness…
All events of the dramaturgy festival “Versmė” are free, registration is required only for creative workshops. However, in order to get better seats in the readings, you are invited to come to them earlier, as the number of seats in the Small Hall is limited
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Dainavičius, Vaidilė Juozaitytė, Laurynas Jurgelis, Rimantė Valiukaitė, Šarūnas Zenkevičius.
In “Europa keberiokšt,” the author explores the complex themes of identity, belonging, and the European experience through the lens of contemporary societal issues. The narrative unfolds with rich character interactions and an evocative setting that challenges conventional perspectives on Europe’s socio-political landscape.
This series of readings is part of the “Versmė” festival, which highlights contemporary dramaturgy and promotes cultural exchange between Lithuania and other countries, particularly focusing on the French program this year. The festival aims not only to introduce Lithuanian playwrights to foreign audiences but also to invite international playwrights to share their works, fostering a vibrant shared artistic dialogue.
As the festival progresses, it promises to deliver a rich array of performances, showcasing the diversity of perspectives within modern theatre and emphasizing the importance of international collaboration in the arts. Each reading is carefully directed and performed by talented artists, ensuring that the emotional depth and artistic intent of each piece resonate with the audience.
For theater enthusiasts and professionals, the accompanying creative workshop by Mathieu Tulissi Gabard offers a unique opportunity to delve into the intricacies of writing for the stage, further enhancing the festival’s educational component.
“Versmė” is shaping up to be a significant event in the Lithuanian cultural calendar, providing a platform for both local and international voices in contemporary theater. The collaboration between various national theaters and cultural institutions enriches the experience, making it a noteworthy occasion for those invested in the performing arts.
