The highly-esteemed Lithuanian director Oskaras Korsunovas brings us a searing interpretation of Anton Chekhov’s theatre classic The Seagull. For Korsunovas theatre is like a laboratory. The actors are the main ingredients and, with their unrivalled performances, are central in a lot of his productions. The Seagull was created in the laboratory studio of his theatre OKT and builds up a common intimate space between actors and spectators. The play is about theatre, art and artists. It is an identifiable drama that delves into the workings of the human soul. The relationship between mother and son is central in Korsunovas’ interpretation. Arkadina and Trepljov each represent a vision of art. He is a young playwright who is overpowered by her belief in art, she is a famous actress who is somewhat set in her ways. The first performance of The Seagull was a turning point in the history of theatre because it brought together the innovative minds of Chekhov, director Konstantin Stanislavsky and actor Vsevolodod Meyerhold. Korsunovas, with his extremely intense pioneering theatre, is conscious of this as he strives for a new dramatic reality.
Oskaras Koršunovas is one of the most important Lithuanian and European directors. His plays are performed all over the world and are often on the programme of the Edinburgh and Avignon Festivals. He has won a number of national and international awards, including the prestigious European prize New Theatre Realities (2001). In 2009, Oskaras Koršunovas was given the honourable title of the Chevalier of the French order of Literature and Arts. He is also Swedish Commander Grand Cross: Order of the Polar Star. He was awarded the Golden Cross of Merit, Poland. Koršunovas has built a solid repertoire, which encompasses both contemporary drama and classic stagings. The director’s credo to stage classics as contemporary plays, recognizing what is relevant to the present time, and contemporary plays – as the classics, conveying what is universal and timeless, became paradigmatic in that creative period. In 2008, Korshunovas opened Studio OKT in his theatre, where he turned the rehearsal process into in-depth laboratory work.
In Lithuanian with Bulgarian and English subtitles.
The streaming of a video recording of the production is accessible for free for 72 hours from 4 June, 7 pm, till 7 June, 7 pm, on the territory of Bulgaria on viafest.org.