A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Oskaras Koršunovas Theater, Vilnius
Shakespeares Komödie als kraftvolles Körpertheater
Thursday 8. Nov. // 07:30 – 09:30 p.m.
Schauspielhaus
The four lovers in the forest near Athens, the turbulences at the court of the Elf King, Puck’s adventures. With Shakespeare’s »A Midsummer Night’s Dream« you expect a fairy-tale story indulging in playful costumes, Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s wedding march and a expensive spectacle.
With Oskaras Koršunovas, it’s entirely different. 17 players on an empty stage. Each is armed with a board the size of a body, his or her own piece of the wonderful forest. This moving piece of wood flying up like a choir and stamping down transforms itself into the staging, become the inside and outside, become the tightness of the palace and wide and moving forest. It becomes a costume and furniture. This board is also the steering wheel that conducts the audience through the sea of potential meanings of his or her own imagination. Figures project into these waves, they shoot their sentences like little arrows into the battle of words and submerge as quickly as lightning. Expressive body theatre that is not ashamed to use slapstick and clownerie, but that also is capable of creating truthful and quiet moments. Love makes wounds in the confused mythical happenings in the forest, it creates the magic flower of lust and pain while wonderfully healing all confused feelings.
Oskaras Koršunovas was born in Vilnius in 1969. He studied direction at the Lithuanian College of Music from 1989 to 1993. From 1997 to 1999 he worked as a director at the State Academic Theatre in Vilnius. In 1999, he founded the independent Oskaras Koršunovas Theatre (with Gintaras Sodeika and Martynas Budraitis). Since the beginning of the 90’s there have been twelve large-scale productions (the last was »Feuergesicht« by Marius von Mayenburg and »Master and Margarita« after Bulgakow). This is what the theatre is showing itself at the big festivals in Europe with. Koršunovas had a guest performance with »The Old Woman« after Daniil Charms at euro-scene Leipzig as early as 1997.
This »A Midsummer Night’s Dream« is dramatic theatre presented with the whole body. It is a comedy full of turbulence. Theatre for the entire family and for all senses. Beyond this, it‘s also the powerful counterpart to the production of »A Midsummer Night’s Dream« in Leipzig’s Schauspielhaus.
In litauischer Sprache mit Übertiteln
Im Anschluss an die Vorstellung findet ein Publikumsgespräch statt.
Moderation: Ann-Elisabeth Wolff, Festivaldirektorin euro-scene Leipzig
Premiere: 17.11.1999 in Helsinki
Internetseiten der Compagnie: www.okt.lt
Inszenierung: Nikolaus Habjan
Puppenbau: Nikolaus Habjan, Marianne Meinl
Musik: Kyrre Kvam
Bühnenbild: Jakob Brossmann
Kostüme: Cedric Mpaka
Video: Johannes Hammel
Lichtdesign: Günter Zaworka
Darsteller*innen und Puppenspiel: Hanna Binder, Sabrina Ceesay, Bettina Kerl, Linshalm, Tim Breyvogel, Tilman Rose
Einführung vor der Vorstellung: Nikolaus Habjan, Wien,
und Marie Rötzer, Intendantin Landestheater Niederösterreich, St. Pölten