OKT / Vilniaus miesto teatras: Otelas (rež. Oskaras Koršunovas)

William Shakespeare

OTHELLO

Oskars Koršunovas

Scenography

Oskars Koršunovas, Julia Skuratova

Costume designer

Julija Skuratova

Music

Antanas Jasenka

Video artist

Artis Dzerve

Author and performer of guitar improvisations

Džiugas Gvozdzinskas

Choreographer

Vesta Grabštaitė

Light artist

Eugene Sabaliauskas

Director's assistant

Jakūbas Brazys

Literary consultant

Kasparas Pocius

Technical director

Mindaug Repšys

Sound director

Ignas Juzokas, Edvardas Kašintsevs

Props and costumes

Laura Aurylaitė

Leader of the troupe

Malvina Matickienė

Subtitles

Aurimas Minsevičius

Foreign tour manager

Audra Žukaitytė

Acting

Oneida Kunsunga-Vildžiūniene, Digna Kulionytė, Saulius Ambrozaitis, Sofija Gedgaudaitė, Karolis Norvilas, Miglė Navasaitytė, Gerda Čiuraitė, Džiugas Gvozdzinskas, Aurelijs Pocius , Điugas Grinys, Domantas Starkauskas

"I don't think that today at all it is possible to stage "Othello" in a traditional way, because the "Othello" tradition of productions is overgrown with a racist, colonialist and patriarchal shell that is no longer acceptable to us today. This shell takes us completely away from the essence of the true tragedy of Shakespeare's Othello, and its essence, like all other Shakespearean tragedies, lies at the intersection of the traditional and modern worlds. Deleuze, one of the most famous philosophers of today, talks about the traditional patriarchal world

as a wooden and clay structure. Woodiness here means hierarchy, clayiness means immobility and stagnation. The army is the best example of such a wooden and clay structure. A completely different, unstable and non-hierarchical structure is placed in front of it - molecular. Such a structure is completely flat, without beginning and without end, without any centering. It works like guerilla warfare, or like Juliet who utters her famous line on the balcony: “If we call a rose by another word, will it smell less?” What is Juliet essentially saying with these words? In essence, these words are a revolution, because she claims that we do not affect the essence of the rose in any way in the traditional framework. She rejects that wooden, earthy hierarchy and naming system, while doing away with the traditional antagonism between the Montes and the Capulets. The summary of these two families is that they have been perceiving themselves as enemies for all eternity. This perception, the centuries-long war, shaped their identity and family tradition. Juliet takes up guerilla warfare, her weapon is love. She crossed all rubicons, giving her heart to her enemy, Romeo. Juliet says that another time has come, you need to look not at traditions, invented names, old concepts and customs, but at the essence that is always created in the present. If all of Verona is still living in the Middle Ages, Juliet is already a child of the Renaissance. Just like Desdemona in old Venice. Desdemona secretly, like a partisan, falls in love with Othello and runs away to him, thus recalling all the wooden, earthen traditions of medieval Venice. Her frightened father is loudly "scalambi" about it. Juliet's parents oppose their daughter's love and kill her, thus killing their dynasty because Juliet is their only daughter. The same thing happens in "Othello", only more terrible - Iago kills Desdemona by Othello's hands. At the same time, he kills Othello, the only general who can defend Venice.

Shakespeare says that tradition, which rejects modernity, is doomed. Although a graduate of the University of Wittenberg, Hamlet obeys his father's medieval demands "an eye for an eye", thus killing Ophelia, her father and brother, the king and queen, himself and all of Denmark, because there is no one left to resist the Norwegian Fortinbras' army. In Othello, Iago acts "Machiavellian", using all the traditional stereotypes for his purposes and arguments. He inflames Desdemona's father with racism and makes Othello himself question his hierarchical honor as a general and a man. He plays with the darkest emotions like a devilish influencer these days, manipulating traditional notions of goodness to his own advantage, as if the FB algorithm calculates our needs and fears and, sensing our Achilles' heel, squeezes it so that we become the black sheep of its goal: fear war, hate the other, the neighbor , a stranger and most importantly - in envy. This is the most despicable and at the same time the most effective rule - rule by fear and envy. He forces Othello to return to the wooden hierarchical system of the army. Othello obeys him - he goes against his love, against his true nature and perishes.

The union of Othello and Desdemona, despite racial and other differences, we could call completely unconventional in those times family. Nowadays, in Lithuania, we are particularly strongly experiencing the collision of the "traditional family" with the non-traditional family, social gender, and the like. Basically, it is the intersection of the traditional and the new worlds, which has been repeated in Europe since the Middle Ages and whose matrix revolves in Shakespeare's tragedies. This dilemma is one of the reasons why Othello is played by a black woman. This gives us a tangible sense of what traditional boundaries Desdemona is pushing. On the other hand,

if in Shakespeare's time it was normal for men to play women, then today it should be normal for women to play men. By the way, Deleuze considers a man to be a clay structure and a woman to be a molecular structure in a traditional patriarchal society. Creation, according to him, is possible only on the molecular plane, only through becoming a woman, and finally - incomprehensible. This is especially understandable thanks to the theater. Acting is the art of reincarnation. Therefore, neither gender, nor age, nor other restrictions exist here.

The case of actress Oneida Kunsunga - Vildžiūnienė is special. As a black woman, she had a unique experience in Lithuania - it's no secret, quite racist, homophobic, living in fear and therefore aggressive, closed society. Well, the main reason is her unique talent. "An actor is an athlete at heart," said Antonin Artaud. I have not found a more athletic heart for the role of Othello than Oneida." Oskars Koršunovas

Producer - OKT/Vilnius City Theatre. The performance was created in cooperation with the Lithuanian Council of Culture and the festival "TheAtrium".��.

Oh. Koršunov's "Otelas" - the 2020 edition of the prestigious Avignon Festival. main program selection.

Premiere

July 19, 2021

ATTENTION! The stroboscope effect and smoke are used during the performance.

On the AllEvents portal you can always Buy tickets to an event Theater OKT / Vilniaus miesto teatras: Otelas (rež. Oskaras Koršunovas), Kaunas, Kauno kultūros centro Girstučio padalinys January 24

* The description translation is done automatically. There may be inaccuracies. Be sure to check the event description on the ticket store website when buying tickets.