Internationally acclaimed contemporary Hungarian theater director Árpád Schilling returned to the Lithuanian theater after the memorable production Big Bad (LNDT, 2015). At the center of Schilling's new play is the theme of autonomy. Are we autonomous when we are free? What does autonomy mean in each of our personal lives? The play Autonomy was created based on a script that was born in the process of rehearsals through the cooperation of all the creators of the play. Árpád Schilling was helped to create the play's dramaturgy by the director's artistic co-author Ildikó Gáspár. Gáspár experiments with various forms of dramatic narrative. This can also be felt in the play Autonomy, which uses actors' stories and uses different narrative tenses.
At the center of the play is the story of one family, through which the history of society and nation unfolds. For Valentin, the change of political regime was a successful event, thanks to his talent and flexible manner, he became rich because he appeared in the right place at the right time. Valentine's 20-year-old grandson Sim, in order to make a movie about the whole family, sees it completely differently: it turns out that the family's past and its long-cherished history contain secrets that no one wants to know or talk about. This is how the young man faces the question: for many of us, the glorious past of the family is the essential foundation. So if we move or destroy this foundation, doesn't that mean that we risk causing both external and internal collapse? Could it be that the only habitable world is built on a foundation of lies?
Director Árpád Schilling about the performance: Autonomy is a big and important question. Who are we really? In this part of Europe, being autonomous is very difficult, because we often had to deny our autonomy, put our lives in someone else's hands. It is very difficult to preserve your nation's or personal autonomy in captivity. The experience of captivity teaches you to be part of the crowd. Generation after generation gets used to it. Learning to adapt. It becomes difficult to say, “No. I didn't ask for it, I choose something else.” For me, autonomy starts with the ability to say no.
In this play, we are faced with a big family, where we need to understand each other. The topic of generational conflict is also important. The story told in the play is not specifically Lithuanian. It is universal. It could take place in the context of any other European country. Today, the relationship of the people of the present with the past of their country is relevant in many places. How do we try to cleanse ourselves of our past? Like wash it off or pull it to the side. But young people cannot build their lives here if they are forbidden to open the past themselves. When it comes to the autonomy of a person or a country, I am interested in that relationship with the hidden past. Another theme of the play is the position of men and women in the family and outside of it. We still live in a patriarchal system. To me, this disparity between men and women, making decisions based on one gender, is just as horrible as the everyday racism that we may not even notice.
Spectators are admitted to the performance from the age of 14.
