"Life will now start running in leaps and bounds."
Mr. Dupont, Tramway Concessionaire
"In 1892 the idea of progress"
"We received it. Our life ran in leaps and bounds, one day was unlike the other."
Petrutis, Guduk's brother
"In 1892 the idea of progress"
"Wouldn't it be more understandable if we wanted the day of God?" Oh Lord, Lord, give my head peace.”
Guduk, Petruchis's brother
"In 1892 the idea of progress"
A long, long time ago, just after the creation of the world and the expulsion of people from Paradise so that the evicted could perish faster from one end to the other, in 1892, in Kaunas, a transport never seen before in Lithuania began to roll on the rails, a horse-drawn wagon on rails - a horse-drawn tram. popularly called "konke".
In 1982, the eyes of Lithuanian readers saw the hitherto unseen, new small book "History of Various Times" by the writer Saulius Tomas Kondrots, in which, among other stories created and invented by the writer, one could find the short story "The Idea of Progress in 1892".
In 2022, the director and actor Rolandas Kazlas decides to realize this work by Saulius Tomas Kondrots on the theater stage.
R. Kazlas about the premiere of the upcoming play:
I don't know if you choose the piece or if it chooses you. Perhaps there is some truth in the saying that what you are looking for is also looking for you. How many times I read the works of S. T. Kondrots and the short story "The Idea of Progress of 1892", which is the basis of the play, I never cease to wonder: how can it be written like that? How possible to manage words, select and arrange them in such a way that they become something more than sentences. Some kind of magic, text music, spells.
It would seem that everything is simple: two strange brothers, Gudukas and Petrutis, tell about themselves and what happened to them, and at the same time, you see and feel the history not only of the two brothers, but also of our country, people, and civilization.
A small work about two small people creates a visual impression, not prose. We would like to achieve this in the performance as well. This is where all the fun and difficulty lies. In any case, it is a pleasure to work with such excellent, moreover, Lithuanian material. One would like to have an aesthetic performance, slightly raised from the ground, during which the audience could feel free, awaken their imagination, feelings and breathe in one rhythm together with the heroes of the performance.
And what is the play about, an impatient curious person might ask? Like all works: about life, love and death. However, it seems to me that the most important thing is to talk about a person, what is fragile, easily vulnerable and the most beautiful. Maybe about that sacred human naivety... And how can it be exploited? There is a lot to think about here. After all, there is collective naivety, and naivety that is simply childish, from God. This is man's greatest happiness and misfortune. Or vice versa. Is that enough to get you interested in the show? I naively hope.
 
The horse-drawn tram - "konke" - has long been gone, neither in Kaunas nor in Vilnius, but who knows, with the rapid increase in the price of electricity and fuel, it is possible that the townspeople will once again drive around the city in horse-drawn wagons with a light breeze... Will it be like that? no - time will tell, and here is the play "Idea of Progress of 1892" already on its way to the theater stage. We invite all fans of the works of Roland Kazl and Saulius Tomas Kondrots, as well as the theater, to the premiere.
Artūras Suziedėlis (Gudukas) and Rolandas Kazlas (Petrutis) play the main roles of the strange brothers in the play "Idea of Progress of 1892". Other roles are created by: A. Rūkas, T. Kvietinskaitė, D. Tarutis, N. Matonis. The scenographer and costume designer of the play is Elvita Brazdylytė.
Saulius Tomas Kondrotas is one of the most prominent, world-class, Lithuanian prose writers, laureate of the National Prize (2020). He has published 5 collections of prose works and the internationally acclaimed novels "Zalči szmzistis", "And it will be cloudy looking through the window". The writer talentedly combined the mythical, fantastic beginning with a modern narrative style and became the most important creator of magical realism in Lithuanian literature. Unsatisfied with the oppressive Soviet system, he emigrated from Lithuania in 1986. Since 2004 lives in the USA.
The project is financed by the Lithuanian Council of Culture.