May 20-June 18th in Klaipėda, third biggest city in Lithuania, is a meeting ground for a community of theatre lovers. From 2017th an international theatre festival “TheATRIUM” brings the most interesting and promising names and performances to its home, Klaipėda drama theatre. This year festival celebrates its anniversary and on May 20-24th opens with a Lithuanian theatre showcase of 12 performances. In addition, from May 30th to June 18th it also brings its audiences International programme with four performances from abroad.
Festival via its Lithuanian Theatre showcase offers a great chance for locals and visitors from abroad in a few days duration to immerse themselves in a professionally curated selection of theatre works, representing very different facets of Lithuanian theatre scene. From traditional dramatic works to dance performances and various genre bending productions. This year this is especially noticeable – in a list of 12 works you can find mono-opera, work of a puppet theatre, performative-lecture, musical performance, docu-fiction performance and so on. Wide scope of genres led to a whole set of unexpected sites joining the festival – from art gallery to university lecture hall, to a space in co-working hub. One of the performances, last work of legendary Robert Wilson, “Seven Soltitudes” will invite to take trip to its home theatre – National Kaunas Drama Theatre.
Among other Lithuanian showcase participants – worth noting are work by contemporary classic Oskaras Koršunovas “Kant. A Room Where No One Thinks”, presently very highly regarded Laura Kutkaitė and her two performances “tremolo” and “Milena”, internationally acclaimed Yana Ross and her “Consider the Lobster”, imaginative musical performance by multi-talented Agnė Matulevičiūtė “Sayonakidori” and others.
All the performances will be shown with English subtitles as Lithuanian showcase at its heart was created as a representative and networking event for theatre professionals from abroad – producers, theatre representatives, theatre critics and scholars. Even so, this showcase became a hit with wider audiences.
The International programme of “TheATRIUM” will continue from May 30th to June 18th. At a much slower pace it will line up four performances from Argentina, Spain, Estonia and Greece. International programme will open on May 30th with performance “Wayqeycuna” directed by interdisciplinary artist Tiziano Cruz. There will be two showing times for this deeply emotional bio-drama, allowing viewers to meet Quechua – one of the first peoples of South America. June 5th will be marked by explosive work of Spanish theatre company “La Perla 29” and British dark cabaret group “The Tiger Lillies” – “The Tiger Lillies in a Macbeth Song”. Featuring new songs created especially for this performance it is a unique concert-performance: dark, stormy, funny and sharp. June 11th is dedicated to a visitor from nearby Estonia and “Von Krahl Theatre”, darkly funny and absurd “Every Day is Like Sunday”. It will immerse audience in an imaginary Sundayland Spa raising a question is this consumerist stasis of pleasure is really enough, is this what we all are labouring for through our lives. The last guest of international programme comes from Greece – a dance performance “Hystory”, by highly influential choreographer on the global dance realm, Patricia Apergi and Aerites Dance Company. Visually stunning work explores identities attributed to woman or those accepted by themselves. “Hystory” is a production of Athens and Epidaurus Festival 2025.
Every year “TheATRIUM” offers not only a pleasure of intense theatre filled days, celebration of art, but also it invites to reflect contemporary world and its events. This year festival greets its audiences with a somewhat archaic slogan “We shall grow thorns in our garden” – its intrinsic meaning is particularly acute for the Baltic region. “TheATRIUM” team, choosing this specific wording invites to reflect on culture as a beautiful garden that, if left unprotected can easily be destroyed. “We shall grow thorns in our garden” speaks about impossibility of apolitical stance, of learned and not learned history lessons and about imperative not only to create beauty and promote kindness, but also about readiness to defend cherished values.
During its ten-year life “TheATRIUM” grew up to be one of the main theatre events in all Western Lithuania. Its strength combines not only an excellent curatorial work of its team, but also the geographical location of an event. The Lithuanian seaside in late spring and early summer is a superb time to combine cultural and leisure plans: art and beach.
