KAUNE NUTŪPS SKRAJOJANTIS LĖLININKŲ FESTIVALIS
May 25-28th Kaunas State Puppet Theatre invites its spectators to the 19th International Puppet Festival of Theatrics Art. The event has been held in Kaunas since 1991 and this year it is going to present an ambitious programme with a lot of performances. During the three days of the festival lots of performances of puppeteer theatres and troupes from Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Poland, the Ukraine, France, the Check Republic, Croatia, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Israel and China will be introduced to the audience.
This year the festival of Kaunas State Puppet Theatre has changed its name and has become “The Flying Festival” instead of its former name “Children and Puppets Are Smiling”. The new title presents the national project “Family and Children in Nowaday’s Europe” which is supported by European Commission of Culture. The project, in which 5 puppet theatres from different countries took part, has been going on for two years during which time a lot of performances based on the theme of the project were staged. These plays together with additional programmes of the guests will be presented during the festival.
The repertoire of the “Flying Festival” will offer performances not only to the children but also to the adults .All in all 18 performances will be introduced and a parade of puppets and masks will traditionally march along Laisves avenue.
The 19th International Festival of Puppet Theatres held in Kaunas, in its size and artistry a unique event in Lithuania, presents modern tendencies of professional puppet theatre.
The festival is organized by Kaunas State Puppet Theatre and Lithuanian Centre of the International Puppeteer Organization UNIMA .The Minister of culture of Lithuania is the guardian of the festival. The programme of culture of European Commission, Kaunas council and culture supporting fund of the Lithuanian Republic are the main sponsors of the event.
FESTIVAL PROGRAMME
May 25th, Wednesday
14.00 Kaunas State Puppet Theatre (Lithuania). Kaunas State Puppet Theatre, Laisves ave.87A
THE TRIBE FROM THE BIG WOOD (dir. Olegas Ziugzda)
It is a fascinating puppet show about goblins, magic mythological creatures living in the forest .The performance is devoted to the whole family. The authors want to ask the audience what happens when children are allowed to do whatever they want. The idea of the performance is that love and care are the main family values even in the most difficult moments. This year the performance was nominate for the Golden Stage Cross award.
15.00 Klaipeda Puppet Theatre (Lithuania), Kaunas Chamber Theatre, Kestucio Str.74A
JUOBA (rež.Gintare Radvilaviciute)
The performance is based on the play by Alfred Jarry and devoted to the adult audience. It is an object theatre play full of subtle humour , poetical irony and grotesque. The heroes, torn apart by political ambitions, “are played” by forks, knives, rags, meat grinders and other objects.
16.00 Panevezys Wagon Puppet Theatre (Lithuania), Kaunas City Park.
ANT THE LONER (dir. Antanas Markuckis)
The performance teaches young children a lesson by telling a story about an arrogant Ant who is looking for an easy life. Whenever she meets Ladybird, Drop of Rain or Glow-worm the only thing she asks for is “a house with ten rooms”.
17.00 The Parade of Puppets and Masks, Laisves Avenue.
19.00 Compagnie Garin Trousseboenf (France), Kaunas State Puppet theatre Small Hall,
Laisves Ave. 87A
BY CANDELIGHT-2 (dir. Patrick Conan)
“Garin Trousseboef” troupe was founded in 1987 by a French puppeteer Patric Conan. It is a professional puppet and object theatre staging performances for both adults and children in Savenay, France. The performance “Candle Light-2” consists of short episodes, joined together by telling stories about death and life and other importan events taking place in between.
20.00 Stuffed Puppet Theatre (the Netherlands) Kaunas State Puppet Theatre, Laisves Ave.87A
PUNCH & JUDY IN AFGHANISTAN (dir. Neville Tranter)
Neville Tranter, one of the most famous puppeteer in Europe, in his new performance with the help of hand puppets is telling a story with a good dose of humour about war in Afghanistan. According to the skilled artist it is a great play about things which happen when naivety and cynicism collide. The performance is devoted to adults!
May 26th, Thursday
10.00 Ivano-Frankivsk Puppet Theatre (the Ukraine), Kaunas Chamber Theatre, Kestucio Str.74A
LIUDVIG & TUTTA (dir. Dmitro Nujanzin)
The play, subtly telling about the right to love and to be happy, is devoted to the younger audience. The hero of the play Fox Ludvik falls in love with Bunny, however, their love is in great danger which is looming around…
11.00 Quanzhou Marionette Troupe (China), Kaunas State Puppet Theatre,
Laisves Ave.87A.
ANCIENT ART NEW PATHS (dir. Wang Jingxian)
The Chinese puppet theatre is one of the oldest theatres in the world, having the deepest and richest traditions, a great variety of means of expression and amazingly skilled puppeteers. The performance “The Art of the Past: New Ways” is a visiting-card of Quazhon Marionette theatre. It is a mosaic consisting of various short stories based on Chinese folk legends and myths. The characters playing in the stories are very different. The audience will meet ancient heroes, lazy monks, wizards, demons and animals. The professional skills of the Chinese puppeteers will be demonstrated to the audience through their incredible abilities to make their puppets dance, fight, play various instruments and manipulate different objects. A lot of performances will be accompanied by live music and Chinese folk songs
15.00 Latvian State Puppet Theatre (Ryga/ Latvia), Kaunas Chamber Theatre, Kestucio Str.74A
SLEEPING BEAUTY (dir. Rein Agur)
It is a warm and cosy, the so called “table performance”, staged by one of the most famous Estonian puppeteers Rein Augur. The play is performed by two actors who revive the magic fairy tale world of Charles Perrault. The performance is devoted to both children and adults and to everyone who likes energetic, funny, musical actors lively communicating with the audience.
17.00 Compagnie Garin Trousseboenf (France), Kaunas State Puppet Theatre Small Hall,
Laisves Ave. 87A
BY CANDELIGHT -2 (dir. Patrick Conan)
“Garin Trousseboef” troupe was founded in 1987 by a French puppeteer Patric Conan. It is a professional puppet and object theatre staging for both adults and children in Savenay, France. The performance “Candle Light-2” consists of short episodes, joined together by telling the stories about death and life and other important events taking place in between.
18.00 Rijeka City Puppet Theatre (Croatia), Kaunas National Puppet Theatre, Laisves Ave.87A
THE FOREST OF STRIBOR (dir. Larry Zapia)
This is a visual theatre performance for the family. The object and puppet theatre introduces to its audience Slavonic mythology based on the fairy-tale about a magic girl-snake and mother’s love to her son.
May 27th, Friday
10.00 The Baj Pomorskij Theatre (Torun/ Poland) Kaunas State Musical Theatre, Laisves Ave.91
SWALLOW (dir. Zbigniew Lisowski)
The play of a Polish playwright Tadeusz Slobodzianek, based on a fairy-tale written by a famous Brazilian writer, tells us about impossible love, unexpectedly born between two creatures hostile to each other, the swallow and the cat. Is such love possible at all? The argument about love and its rights becomes the means to the authors to discuss with the young generation about the law regulating the world order.
11.00 and 13.00 The Train Theatre (Jerusalem/ Israel), Kaunas Chamber Theatre, Kestucio Str.74A
GULLIVER-THE JOURNEY TO LILLIPUT (dir. Amit Drori)
The story about the adventures of Gulliver, written by J.Swift in 1726, has been fascinating actors of the puppet theatre up till now. The well known plot of the story is re-created once again in the performance with the help of such means as mechanical theatre, manipulation with toy figures and cinema art.
15.00 Vilnius Puppet Theatre „Lėlė“ (Lithuania), Kaunas State Puppet Theatre, Laisves Ave.87A
PRIVATE TERRITORY (dir. Vitalijus Mazuras)
The performance, based on the play “Lamb trial” by Marcelijus Martinaitis, analyses the theme of the conflict between an individual and authority. The play of puppets and masks, full of political implications, is devoted to the youth and adults.
The striking scenery of a legendary Lithuanian puppeteer Vitalijus Mazuras fascinates the audience.
21.00 Psilicone Theatre (Lithuania), Kaunas State Drama Theatre Parquet Hall, Kestucio Str.62
STRANGLED & SHOOTED (dir. Aukse Petruliene)
The plays of Psilicone theatre are mostly many-layer performances which use chemical liquids, manipulation of puppets and other objects. The audiovisual story “Strangled and Shot” is based on the documentary of a scandalous case dealing with two murders in pre-war Lithuania. According to the authors the story, full of humour, unexpected associations and striking play, tries to investigate the phenomenon of desire.
22.00 Kemerovo State Puppet Theatre (Russia) Kaunas State Puppet Theatre, Laisves Ave.87A
PEER GYNT (dir. Dmitrij Vichrecki)
It is a suite of plastic movements with puppets accompanied by the music of Edvard Grieg and based on the play by Henrik Ibsen .The performance is devoted to the youth as well as the adults.
May 28th Saturday
10.00 Old Theatre of Karol Spisak in Nitra (Slovakia) Kaunas State Puppet Theatre, Laisves Ave.87A
QUINTET OR THE SEA AT THE END OF THE WORLD (dir. Kamil Ziska)
It is a performance about children’s friendship. The heroine of the play is a girl named Debora who, together with her friends, are looking for her lost brother in the world of fantasy where they experience a lot of adventures.
12.00 Theatre “Malabarhotel” (Poland), Kaunas Chamber Theatre, Kestucio Str.74A
BALDANDERS (dir. Marcin Bilowski)
The performance was inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe and Louse Bourgeois. The play is for adults. It depicts the story of the Master and his imprisoned victim. The heroes of the siurrealist world are surrounded by hollow and immoral people and demons who “are played” by macabre puppets and mannequins of human size.
16.00 Ostrava Puppet Theatre (Czech Republic), Kaunas State Puppet Theatre, Laisves Ave.87A
THE ORANGE GIRL (dir. Vaclav Klemens)
It is a true to life story devoted to children and the youth .A boy named Georg who is fifteen years old gets a letter from his father who died eleven years ago. The letter is written by his father already knowing that his death is inevitable and that he will never see his son growing up and will never be able to tell him the things which a father usually tells his son. In his letter the father tells Georg about love to the girl with oranges. This story becomes a means to give his son all his wisdom and knowledge gained during his short life. This way the boy gets answers to a lot of questions he has.
17.30 DudaPaiva Company (the Netherlands), Kaunas State Musical Theatre, Laisves Ave.91
BASTARD! (dir. Duda Paiva)
“Public favourite” is the title of Duda Paiva, an artist of a Brazilian descent, currently living in the Netherlands. He is an original creator of dance and theatre. Duda Paiva’s ability to combine the means of expression of modern dance and puppet theatre fascinates the audience in each of his plays. The play “Bastard!”is based on the short story “The Robber of the Hearts” (L’arrache Coeur”) by a French author Boris Vian who, with the help of humour, tries to investigate the phenomenon of human cruelty.
