“Martyr” directed by Agniaus Jankevičius is today’s reality Culture

In the play, the problematic field is wide and relevant: the battle of ideas, the role of extremism and religion in society, the division of Western society, the threat of fanaticism, the madness and passions of sexual and social maturation. Grotesque, a genre of black comedy, is used to talk regarding difficult topics.

“The Martyr” by Marius von Mayenburg is still being staged in many European theaters

Martyr (Märtyrer) by the German playwright and screenwriter Marius von Mayenburg was and is still being staged in many European theaters. The playwright wrote “The Martyr” in 2012, the same year he staged it himself at the “Schaubühne” theater in Berlin.

The play, which consists of 27 scenes, resembles a movie script, its problematic field is wide and relevant – the struggle of ideas, the role of extremism and religion in society is examined, the contradictions of Western society, division, the threat of fanaticism and how it correlates with religion are revealed. The play reveals the total disorder of adults and society in the face of Christian radicalism. The text exposes neoliberalism, political correctness and tolerance, very openly criticizes superstitions that tempt young minds.

Photo by Arvydas Gudas/Director Agnius Jankevičius at the rehearsal of the performance “The Martyr”

According to the director Agniaus Jankevičius, “Martyr” has many ingredients to remain in the history of art. There are three things in modern dramaturgy that, if brought up in one way or another, will have one or another resonance. It’s politics, religion and sex. These have been the most timeless themes of all time that will have great resonance.

Breaking into the world of mature people is not easy

The play tells the story of Benjamin, a teenager raised by a single mother. When Benjamin’s mother is told that her son is having problems at school, her first thought is drugs. But the guy “sat” on a different needle – the Bible. The student finds all the answers in the Holy Scriptures, turns it into a tool to torture and terrorize those around him. I think Benjamin is the only one who knows what is good and what is bad. As a result, conflicts, opposition, psychological struggle arise.

Director A. Jankevičius: “Martyr” has all the elements of “Coming-of-Age Novels”. A teenager goes through a metamorphosis. A child easily turns into an adult. There are many firsts at this stage. Both happy and disappointing and, of course, all this is received extremely violently or, in other words, radically. You have to somehow break into the world of mature people and it is not easy. First of all, for the teenager himself.

Photo by Arvydas Gudas/Rehearsal of the play “Martyr”.

A sharp question of identity arises: how to present yourself so that you are heard, noticed and leave an indelible mark on the minds of others (peers, adults). I look at the play as an excess of ideologies, egoa carnival carousel of freedom, imprisonment, lost hopes, discovered illusions and fading time.”

Martyrdom, alternative rock and popartas

Play poster – supported style. According to the director himself popartas, as an art direction, is a bit of a kitsch game. It also correlates with how A. Jankevičius unlocks M. von Mayenburg’s play itself. Through songs, musical narrative, energy emitted by music. Tribute is paid in Martyr bank, post and alternative rock. The student choir (students of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater) will perform 10s rock and punk rock classics: Green Day „Basket Case“, The Smashing Pumpkins „Bullet with Butterfly Wings“ ir t.t.

Photo by Arvydas Gudas/From the rehearsal of the play “The Martyr”.

“The Martyr” has been in the sights of the director for a long time. And the idea to include the choir in the action came almost by chance. A. Jankevičius: “Everything is very simple – I just read the play, and while reading I listen to music. It was just a feeling is streamed and the Pink Floyd hit “We don’t need no education” popped up. I took a look, and in the clip the students are going to the meat grinder, I think, we need a choir in the performance, it will be more fun. I work as a pedagogue with second-year actors of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater (LMTA), most of them have perfect hearing, play various instruments, their volcanic energy was perfect for “Kankini”.

The director is interested in a person who is outside society

A. Jankevičius staged the plays: “Cursed Love” (2010), “Gronholm Method” (2013), “Ice” (2015), “Idiot” (2018) in the Old Theater of Vilnius. In his work, the director does not shy away from provocation and theatrical revelry unrestrained by moral conventions, the performances are characterized by deformed characters’ images, sharpened plastic and vocal expression, a critical political and social position, an effort to understand and convey the worldliness of his generation. The director is interested in a person who is outside society, an outsider, a misfit. Benjamin, the main character of Martyr, is exactly that.

Photo by Arvydas Gudas/Rehearsal of the play “Martyr”.

Religion as an image, a motive occupies a lot of space in the play, but in this case religion, religious circumstances are only as a means, as a chosen form. “Martyr” is today’s reality, as an oxymoron, as some kind of kitsch. The director mentioned that the first time he read the play with the actors, it was immediately clear that he was going to make a black comedy. The play also uses the grotesque to talk regarding serious matters.

Photo by Arvydas Gudas/From the rehearsal of the play “The Martyr”.

Scenographer Laura Luišaitytė: “The Martyr” is important to me in the matter that is in the text of the play”

The creative team includes professionals in their fields: lighting artist – Darius Malinauskas, video artist – Arvydas Gudas, set designer and costume designer – Laura Luišaitytė.

The latter emphasized that In Martyr, the matter that is in the text of the play is important, and the scenography tries to reproduce it. Through the distance between archaic biblical texts and today’s realities, a strange connection emerges: “Stone desert and neon lights. When reading the play, the first images that came to mind were water and desert/stone. We really wanted to place a swimming pool on the stage, but it turned out to be technically quite difficult to implement. I am beginning to see that the stone is petrified water. Often, my scenography comes from the principle of a dream. Trying to verbalize an image often reminds me of interpreting a dream – there can be many interpretations. And who’s to say which is right?”

Photo by Arvydas Gudas/From the rehearsal of the play “The Martyr”.

Actor Igor Abramovich: “We are talking regarding status in a society where there is no longer a spiritual hierarchy”

Actors of the Vilnius Old Theater play in the play: Igor Abramovičius, Valentinas Novopolskis, Valentinas Krulikovskis, Anastasija Špakovskaja, Yevgenija Gladij, Arturas Svorobovičius, Edita Gončarova, Viačeslavs Lukyanov, as well as students of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater.

The actor Igor Abramovich, who plays the main role of Benjamin, looks at almost everything very critically, has his own opinion, which is very helpful for such a character.

Photo by Arvydas Gudas/From the rehearsal of the play “The Martyr”.

Igor Abramovičius: “In the play, we basically talk regarding status in a society where there is no longer a spiritual hierarchy. The train seems to be moving at full speed to even greater freedom… Then mine “martyr” with the Bible in hand becomes an important person. Because everything is important, everyone’s opinion will be heard. A philosophy professor’s opinion is as important as a fifteen-year-old’s, because everyone is free and everyone has an opinion! And here the director Jakūbas Brazys is right, Caligula must be born in such an era… Maybe he will become my Benjamin Ziudelis? As an actor and as a human being, I understand that the absolute majority are completely disgusted by what we do here in the theater, especially in our theater… But the best thing to do is to come together and work. It’s unifying, at least for the time being.”

The show is shown in Russian with Lithuanian subtitles.