“Stranger” director J. Lorenci: “Beauty in simplicity, fullness in emptiness” | Culture

In the novel The Stranger, Camus reflected on the main theme of his work – absurdity, and examined questions about the meaning of life. Camus did not consider himself an existentialist, although he agreed with the existentialists that life has no inherent meaning. Camus’ philosophy of the absurd called for accepting the fact that life is meaningless and enjoying what life has to offer. This attitude was prompted by the death of his father in the First World War and the atrocities of the Second World War, as well as the bad treatment of the local population by the French he saw while living in Algeria.

Merso is neither good nor bad, neither moral nor immoral – he is simply a man who understands the absurdity of life and is resigned to it. The killing of an Arab by Mers is seen by some researchers as a metaphor for the treatment of Muslims by the French colonizers of Algeria. The Stranger appeared at a time when Algerians were increasingly demanding political autonomy; although in 1940 France granted certain rights, constant conflict and failed French promises of more independence led to the 1954 coup d’état. the beginning of the Algerian war.

Photo by Irmantas Gelūnas/”Stranger” rehearsal

“Alien” is considered the 20th century. a literary classic due to Camus’s philosophical ideas and expression of absurd aesthetics, existentialist attitudes, syntactic structure of the work. The French newspaper “Le Monde” included “The Stranger” in the 20th century. a hundred books.

This work of Camus attracts the attention of not only philosophers or literary scholars, but also scholars of other fields. in 2017 Sam Shuster, professor emeritus of the University of Newcastle (United Kingdom), published an article in which he saw in the thoughts, words and actions of the main character Merse a disorder of social communication, characteristic of a person with Asperger’s syndrome. Perhaps in describing his friend Galindo, Camus was describing someone with a neurological behavioral disorder long before the disorder was clinically defined.

We are talking to director Jernejs Lorenci.

– For Albert Camus, creativity was a means of touching as many people as possible, offering them a shared experience of joys and sufferings. In Lithuania, as in the whole world, the works of this author are very popular. It is very important that after a long break “The Stranger” will be staged again at the Lithuanian National Drama Theater. How did you come up with the idea of ​​choosing exactly this work and exactly today?

– This idea just came to mind one day. The “stranger” lived in me for a long time – like a seed or a cocoon. It took me a while to figure out why. It just came as a strong feeling. Now I think I understand why. I think there are two main reasons: first, my admiration or even envy for Merso – his unique, non-attachment-seeking relationship with the “things of life” – and second, my disgust at the process against Merso (a society that doesn’t care about the victim, but wants to infiltrate the convict’s privacy and subject him to the process of de-individualization – to make him “anyone”, “normal”).

Why is this important today? Because we live in a world of completely black and white colors and relationships. Because we are increasingly becoming a society of control, technocracy and bureaucracy. Because we sacrifice our privacy for security. Because everyone gets more and more in touch with themselves, with their truth and thinks that only it is objective.

– What do you think about the connections between Camus’s ideas and existentialism?

– Camus goes further than existentialism. He does not recognize the meaning of the possibility of existence! It’s all about awareness.

– In the novel “The Stranger”, Camus reflected on the main theme of his work – absurdity, and examined questions about the meaning of life. By what means do you turn philosophical thoughts into theater dramaturgy?

– If the story about God teaches us that we are not gods, then the philosophy of the absurd holds a parallel and at the same time contradictory point of view: we are not absolute, because there is nothing absolute.

Photo by Irmantas Gelūnas/”Stranger” rehearsal

A problem with the excessive pursuit of identification to replace a lack of meaning. Violence is born from a lack of meaning. Outcasts are normalized. Demonization, glorification and generalization are destructive 21st century. forces. The relationship between identification and distance is important. Beauty is in simplicity. Fullness is in emptiness.

– What main tasks did you set for the play’s playwright Dino Pešutas?

– How to listen to Camus and how to create ideas (and potential material) yourself. How to transform the absurd (not only as the fundamental relationship between the world and man, but also between man and society) into a theatrical body.

– How did you choose the actors?

– By selection. I asked the actors to record three tasks. Simple tasks, more non-acting. I’m interested in personalities, simple things.

– In addition to the playwright, artists and a choreographer from Slovenia work together with you. Are these your old partners or do you choose who you will work with based on the theme of the piece?

– My team is like my family. I have been working with them for many years (for example, with set designer Branko Hojnik – for 25 years). We learn and grow together, we understand each other from half a word.

– Maybe you could present your main theater credos to the Lithuanian audience. It is also interesting because nowadays theater is becoming extremely diverse, and often not quite theatrical phenomena try to hide under the wing of the theater.

– I can only speak for myself. I don’t write drama texts, and I haven’t written them for a long time. I’m not interested in creating (dramatic) roles, I’m interested in the area/possibility/zone/interval between the actor (his personality) and the “potential” character. So, not fixed, but floating positions. I believe in allusion, not illusion. Open space. The ear is more important to me than the eye (capitalism, Catholicism).

I want the performance to take place inside the audience. So, the key word for me, for my works, is “imagination”. Storytelling is a method that interests me. (And an active and changing relationship of identification and separation.) I believe in community. All we have (important) is others. Everything I do is for the audience. To make something happen. There would be an effect, not an effect.

– What kind of theatrical processes do you see in your country and around the world?

– I mainly work with Slovenian students and young theater creators. I am honored to be a professor. But at this time of my life, literature and music are more important to me.