Theater Project “Theater Up Close”

This autumn, the Raseinian District Cultural Center is implementing a new project where audiences will be able to watch performances by various professional Lithuanian theaters. The program includes five performances, featuring both classical drama works and experimental and interdisciplinary productions. On September 24 at 6:00 PM at Maironio’s Birthplace in Berntonai, the Klaipėda Youth Theater will present the play-fantasy “Žemaitėjė”. The creative team of the production conducted artistic and historical research to understand what Žemaitija means to today’s Lithuanian citizens. The authors of “Žemaitėjė” propose the idea that in order to want to preserve, cherish and pass on traditions to future generations, we must first understand where the value of those traditions lies. The theatrical fantasy’s dramaturgical foundation is strengthened by scientific research and publications by Lithuanian historians and ethnographers about the history and traditions of Žemaitija. However, this historical information takes on mysterious and mythical forms on the theater stage, filtered through the personal experiences of a young person. The director of the production is Darius Rabašauskas, with actresses Ieva Pakštytė and Rugilė Latvėnaitė performing the roles. On September 27 at 3:00 PM in the RRKC Art Gallery, audiences will be treated to the Panevėžys Theater “Menas” production “Anti”. This is a story-telling performance based on Sophocles’ ancient play “Antigone” and conveyed through personal experiences of four actors. The production is aimed at young audiences and their parents or educators, but will certainly interest everyone else. The creators of “Anti” are preparing a live meeting in a shared space where actors are not separated from audiences by a high stage platform. Instead, both actors and audiences are together on the stage so they can tell and listen to stories together, converse, laugh, act, play computer games, raise important questions and seek sincere answers. The dramaturg and director of “Anti” is Aleksandr Špilevoj. The world premiere of “Kosmos theatre” production “Dilettante” took place in 2024 at the international festival “FIMFA’24” (Lisbon, Portugal). In 2025, the production was nominated as the best performance at Dalia Tamulevičiūtė’s professional theater festival. “A lost artist – talent or dilettante? Catholicism and surrealism, boxing and ballet, opium addiction, a journey around the world and creativity – poetry, prose, cinema, theater, circus, music and everything else… Flows like an interdisciplinary dream, embodying Jean Cocteau’s paintings, poems, novels “Opium”, “Balt