The Pelican
Tuesday, 7 April 2020 at 3:30 PM
Wednesday, 8 April 2020 at 2 PM
Wednesday, 8 April, 2020 at 7 PM
LMTA Theater Manufactury
Performance “The Pelican”
Based on August Strindberg’s play of the same title
Age restrictions / recommendations: Age limit 14+
Director: Naubertas Jasinskas
Cast: Stefán Þór Þorgeirsson, Níels Thibaud Girerd, Ellen Margrét Bæhreni, Örn Gauti, Almar Blær Sigurjónsson
Set designers: Random heroes
Composer: Gintaras Sodeika
Video projection author: Kornelijus Jaroševičius
Light design: Dainius Urbonis
Sound director: Abril Estela Moreno
Light assistant: Augtumas Danielius Harner
Video assistant: Austė Urbanavičiūtė
Technical assistant in Lithuania: Dominykas Grinius
Technical assistant in Iceland: Egill Ingibersson
Tutors: directors Kristian Smeds and Yana Ross, actress Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir, lecturer Snæbjörg Sigurgeirsdóttir
Producers: Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, State Youth Theatre
Partners: Iceland University of the Arts, Lithuanian National Drama Theatre
The performance explores the theme of family, this social intitution’s formation and development. August Strindberg’s play The Pelican investigates and questions the very necessity of family and its meaning; it suggests the idea that every generation inherits the worst qualities from their predecessors. This process does not stop, but evolves into an increasingly worthless and meaningless everyday existence. The rendition of the play preserves this main idea. It explores the mental and emotional states of a contemporary individual. The characters intentionally use the unrealistic character stage existence model to enter these never-ending states. The actors on stage exaggerate,repeat themselves and excerpts of characters’ lives in order to create a sense of common experience. This interpretation forms a bizarre, amplified dramedy. The course of events is constructed in fragments (yet still maintaining its narrative), deliberately focusing on the meanings established on stage. The actors (sophomore acting students) were cast ignoring the age and gender of Strindberg’s characters.
The author of the play suggests examining the cycle, the endless spinning of the wheel that gains its momentum and leads us to a questionable future. The emerging question that accelerates this cycle poses more questions than it gives answers. The main mission of the performance is to find the answer to the question: Is it possible to destroy the cycle rather than stopping it?
Premiere date and place: 7 April, 2020 at LMTA Theater Manufactury
Duration: 1 hour 15 min