Theater Project “Theater Up Close”

This autumn, the Raseiniai District Culture Center is implementing a new project where audiences will be able to see performances from various professional Lithuanian theaters. The program includes five performances, among which there are both classic drama format works as well as experimental and interdisciplinary productions. On September 24 at 18:00 at Maironio Homestead in Bernotai, the Klaipėda Youth Theater will present the theatrical fantasy “Žemaitėjė”. The creative team of the performance conducted an artistic and historical study, trying to understand what Samogitia means to modern Lithuanian residents. The authors of “Žemaitėjė” propose the idea that in order to want to preserve, care for and pass traditions to future generations, we must first understand where the value of these traditions lies. The dramaturgic foundation of the theatrical fantasy is strengthened by scientific research and publications by Lithuanian historians and ethnographers about the history and traditions of Samogitia. However, this historical information takes on mystical and mythical forms on the theater stage, passing through the filter of a young person’s personal experiences. The director of the performance is Darius Rabašauskas, with roles performed by actresses Ieva Pakštytė and Rugilė Latvėnaitė. On September 27 at 15:00 in the RRCC Art Gallery, audiences will be awaited by the Panevėžys Theater “Menas” performance “Anti”. This is a performance-storytelling based on the ancient Sophocles play “Antigone” and personal experiences conveyed by four actors. The performance is oriented toward 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 viewers by a high stage platform. Instead, both actors and audiences together settle on the stage so they can tell and listen to stories together, talk, laugh, act, play computer games, raise important questions and seek sincere answers. The dramaturg and director of the performance “Anti” is Aleksandr Špilevoj. The world premiere of “Kosmos theatre” performance “Dilettante” took place in 2024 at the international festival “FIMFA’24” (Lisbon, Portugal). In 2025, the performance 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”, “White