LMTA students participated in the international festival of puppetry schools “PUPPETNOPUPPET”
From June 23–27, graduates of the LMTA Department of Acting and Directing participated in the 12th edition of the international festival of puppet theater schools, “PUPPETNOPUPPET,” held in Poland. At the Białystok branch of the Aleksander Zelwerowicz Theater Academy, director Paulius Juška presented the puppet and object theater production “Tu, kas?”, which immediately received positive reviews from critics.
According to P. Juška, participating in a festival of this scale was an interesting and enriching experience, during which he was able to confirm that the art of theater transcends cultural, identity, and language barriers:
“This was my first international festival in which I participated as a creator. And it was an incredible experience—both in terms of theatrical practice and personal impressions. The fact that our team managed to recreate such a technically complex production outside our usual performance environment, with technical and time constraints, was incredible.
The performance received a lot of positive feedback. I think we made a good impression both as a country and as an academy. Białystok is one of the most important centers for puppetry in Poland and Europe, so having the opportunity to perform there was a true honor and pleasure.
I am incredibly satisfied and happy to have such a wonderful team that agreed without hesitation to join me on this journey and do everything possible to bring this performance to an international audience. The fact that the themes, visual world, and language we created in this production resonated with an international audience was an unforgettable experience for a young director. Once again, I was reminded that theater and art are not limited by cultural, national, or language barriers.
We even received two very positive reviews that not only praised the world we created but also the technical mastery of puppetry—both in the acting and in the appearance and quality of the puppets. “I think this is an incredible achievement for us, considering that this genre of theater isn’t taught very extensively at our academy,” the director shares his impressions.
Shortly after the premiere of the puppet and object theater production “Who Are You?” in Białystok, a couple of critical reviews appeared, highlighting the production’s originality, its multi-layered exploration of identity, and its bold stage language.
“Although the play could have been simplified a bit to make it easier for the audience to accept, its absurdity consistently elicited hearty laughter. The play’s complex nature and bold manipulation of the audience’s full range of emotions—from laughter, through sadness and horror, to stirring admiration—were a deliberate artistic choice. In this way, Marina Yasinskaya sought to depict the process by which a person tries to come to terms with themselves in a world that loudly proclaims individualism but quietly leaves the individual to the mercy of fate,” writes Witold Bielicki in his review.
“‘Who Are You?’ explores the central theme of human identity—who we are, who we were, and who we will be—and powerfully reminds us that there is never just one version of ourselves. We are made up of countless, often contradictory elements—and it is precisely these, when put together, that define who we are. A mirror shows a face. But do we know what lies behind it? Perhaps sometimes it’s worth looking into it a little longer than usual—not to see ourselves, but to try to recognize ourselves,” says Natalia Gołos in her analysis of the LMTA graduates’ production.
The full reviews can be read here:
Photos from personal album.