Youth Theatre: AUTONOMY director Árpád Schilling

Important notice! Recommended 14+

Árpád Schilling, an internationally acclaimed Hungarian theater director, has become a persona non grata in his homeland due to his opposition to the government. Therefore, he has recently been working in various European countries. Schilling has developed his own peculiar work method and creates plays without a special literary basis. Namely, he explores country-specific social, political, and cultural issues and conducts a thorough study of the chosen topic. The texts of the play are born during rehearsals, using the actors’ improvisations and their personal stories. This time the director turns to a familiar environment. The subject of autonomy covers a variety of issues relevant to all post-Soviet, currently independent, countries. At the center of the performance are these countries’ residents’ desire to adapt to the new social reality in order to survive, their self-censorship, the fear to speak up or to stand out, and their failure to cooperate. How do small countries remember their grand past? What is their relationship to the “great empires” of the present and the idea of ​​a united Europe?

Director: Árpád Schilling

Cast: Kristina Andrejauskaitė, Andrius Bialobžeskis, Dainius Gavenonis, Ina Kartašova, Aleksas Kazanavičius, Viktorija Kuodytė, Rugilė Latvėnaitė, Simas Lunevičius, Valentinas Masalskis, Janina Matekonytė, Vidas Petkevičius, Lukas Petrauskas, Dovilė Šilkaitytė, Neringa Varnelytė

Playwright: Árpád Schilling, Ildikó Gáspár

Artistic Co-author: Ildikó Gáspár

Assistant Director, Interpreter: Saulė Norkutė

Stage Manager: Ildikó Ságodi

Translator: Asta Paulauskytė

Composer: Gintaras Sodeika

Premiere: 2018 March 09

Duration: 2 h. 50 m.