The Repetition Histoire(s) du Théâtre (I)

September 27 and 28, Wednesday / Thursday

LNDT, 19:00

I have long wanted to introduce Lithuanian theatre audiences to Milo Rau, one of the most renowned European directors of our time, a visionary who sets the rules of the new theatre ethics and strives to follow them. The creator first caught my eye in 2018, when he assumed the role of Artistic Director at the NTGent Theatre in Belgium and published a theatrical manifesto that shook the European scene like no other phenomenon in recent decades. In that same year, he initiated the ‘Histoire(s) du théâtre’ (History(ies) of Theatre), an ongoing series of plays where a different distinguished director produces a play each year reflecting on the past and present of theatre. ‘The Repetition. Histoire(s) du théâtre (I)’ was the first play in the series. One might wonder how much of Milo Rau’s ambitious vision of theatre, or his manifesto, which declared that theatre must enact change in the world, was merely words on paper, and how much of it has transformed into an embodied vision. And how does Milo Rau himself, who has left NTGent in June this year, see it today?

Kristina Savickienė