The work of Lithuanian literary classic Ričardas Gavels, which is rarely staged in the theater, is revived on the stage of the Youth Theater. Young generation director Eglė Švedkauskaitė presents the theatrical version of the novel "Memoirs of a Young Man" (1989), which made the writer famous.
In the opinion of the co-author of the novel adaptation, Mindaugas Nastaravičus, the writer Ričardas Gavelis primarily means "Vilnius Poker" in our literature, and this is natural, because literary experts consider this novel as the most important and complex work of R. Gavelis. However, it should not be forgotten that he wrote not one, but seven novels.
"Memoirs of a Young Man" composed of fourteen letters was first published in 1989, in the then magazine "Pergalė". Critics then named it as an unexpected, provocative, erotic story very close to the real life of Lithuania - Brezhnevism, the years of stagnation, the rising dawn of Sąjūdis, and at the same time chaos in the heads, a great breeding ground for wise men, psychics, life savers. Leon Ciparis tried to find his place here - he tried to understand how the ever-growing world works, he tried to adapt, he tried to adapt, but at the same time he learned to resist. This is the essential drama of the work, which remains in the performance as well, says playwright M. Nastaravičius.
According to director E. Švedkauskaitė, "Memoirs of a Young Man" is a performance about memory. About the short life of a young man drowned in expectations and visions, which ended tragically. It is a journey from the beyond to the beyond - from one's memory to the memory of the living.
I speak logically, maybe even intelligently, but I don't speak what I should. I still can't say it properly. You understand, without comparison, you would be an asthmatic, you would be constantly short of air, you would be tormented by the eternal fear of suffocation, and you would know very well that only the community can help you, only in it you can feel safe: when the attack of suffocation comes again, the community will lend you air, of course, they will give you an oxygen pillow, without which you would probably die. Without comparison, you would swim across the boundless sea, waiting with horror for the fatal spasm, you would surely drown alone, and as a member of the community, you would know for sure that there is a boat sailing nearby, from which you will always find a lifeline. That feeling of security is the most important of all, you can pay for it with anything, - thinks Leon Ciparis, the main character of this work, in the novel "Memoirs of a Young Man".
Leon Ciparis is a person who needs a community, common faith, and united aspirations. He always wanted to talk about it, to argue, but he spoke only after his death. His friend and teacher Tom Kelerts became his listener - a man who did not need a community. A man for whom even himself was enough. In the play, not only the gloomy period of stagnation, the smog of the Soviet government, but also mystical figures of authority, capable of destroying destinies with the snap of a finger, hung over the two. The creators of this performance are interested in how the memoirs of the past reality work today, and what traces of it we recognize in our time, in our identity, - says E. Švedkauskaitė.
The play "Memoirs of a Young Man" is one of the Youth Theater's cycle of new productions about modern youth, their life choices and value orientations.
