r i c h a r d II : p o s t f a c t u m
according to William Shakespeare
Premiere 2014 October 15,16, 29th, VMU
Duration 120 min | audience 16+
director : Artūras Areima
costume designer : Monika Gurskytė
actors : Vainius Sodeika, Dovydas Stončius, Tadas Gryn, Mindaugas Ancevičius, Eglė Špokaitė, Rokas Petrauskas, Martynas Vaidotas, Marijus Mažūnas, Mantas Tarasevičius, Aistis Lansbergas
Photographers Mantas Puida, Dmitrijus Matvejevas
Supported by Lithuania Council for Culture
There is more acting on the steps of the Parlament than there is on a stage – that is a starting point for the artists. Artūras Areima’s composition is based on William Shakespeare’s Richard II.
Richard II is a king that has the absolute inner and outer freedom. Leader of an artistic soul is tacling a dispute between cousin Bolingbroke and good friend Mowbray. They are both accusing each other with betrayal. To tacle the dispute they decide to fight but king Richard stops them. The king decides to punish them both with exile. Punish them both yet differently. When Bolingbroke’s father, uncle Gaunt, dies, the king takes possesion of his material heritage. His behaviour baffles everybody, especially the nobles who then help Bolingbroke to escape from the exile and return. Richard departs to fight in the battle and leaves uncle York in charge. More and more proponents join Bolingbroke and they destroy the opponents with physical force. Old uncle York does not oppose. Richard loses everything during the battle. When Richard is back he finds Bolingbroke robust and demanding power and fortunes. Bolingbroke becomes the king. Richard is in jail.
In this classical play the director is seeking for the relationships between characters that mirror everyday situations. The space for this performace is a lobby with stairs instead of a conventional theater stage. According to Areima the lobby is much more suitable for exploring theatrical behaviour than a traditional theater stage. This proposes a question – do we notice acting in real life? Where does it come from? Does it have something to do with the fear of being nothing or of not being noticed?
Along with Shakespeare, the director bases the performace on thoughts by Lithuanian philosopher Arvydas Šliogeris. In the West, a human’s behaviour is paradoxical: he is afraid to become no-one; meanwhile, he destroys himself as a person by trying to blend in. Areima transforms a Shakespearian image with a lot of characters into a collision of lifestyle and philosophy of power. Areima invites the actors as well the viewers to ponder whether and how is it possible to end the exhausting theater strategies based on power and image.
AWARDS : 2015 Lithuania highest theatrical award Golden Stage Cross nomination in best director category Artūras Areima;
2015 Lithuania highest theatrical award Golden Stage Cross nomination for the best debut Vainius Sodeika;
2015 Lithuania highest theatrical award Golden Stage Cross nomination for the best woman role Eglė Špokaitė;
2015 Kaunas city professional theater artists award Fortune Award for provocative directing;
REVIEWS :
http://www.menufaktura.lt/?m=1025&s=61017
http://www.diena.lt/naujienos/kaunas/menas-ir-pramogos/ka-ricardas-iii-veiktu-seime-654742