Another play by the genius Italian playwright Carlo Gozzi is being revived at the Theatre of the Madmen, the true Lithuanian home of commedia dell'arte, and will draw you into a theatrical feast full of magic, metaphors, symbols, music and apt irony.
The commedia dell'arte, born in Italy in the 16th century, was soon to captivate almost all of Europe, and its influence stretched back centuries. The secret of its enduring popularity and audience affection lay in the masks - the characters, each of whom was easily recognisable in the smallest village and the most glamorous city. The same characters spun in and out of new whirlpools of passion and local current affairs, creating a captivating mix of music, dance and wit for the audience.
The spectacular commedia dell'arte did not bypass Lithuania - but a few centuries too late. Aidas Giniotis, a master of the genre and, let's not lie, Carlo Gozzi's local representative on Lithuanian soil, will present his fifth commedia dell'arte play!
C. Gozzi's "The Turquoise Monster", in the best traditions of the genre, is a vivid, sensual, magical and hopeful tragicomedy, plunging into a whirlpool of love and revenge, treachery and wonder, vividly spun by improvising actors. The story that unfolds in the mystical city of Nanking could take place in any place in the world, and here in no other; the events that befall the characters are universally recognisable and life-like, and here they are so elemental and magical that boredom will never find a place in the auditorium.
The Turquoise Monster and its masked characters invite us to take the action that is so important in this day and age - to see what lies deep inside. It is an allegorical story about the masks of everyday life that imprison authenticity and the self, an invitation not to succumb to the trappings of physical bodies and glossy covers, but rather to see what is seen when the eyes are closed and the heart is opened.
