Sirenos'25: Katarina ir grožis žudyti fašistus

Tiago Rodrigues. Katarina and the beauty of killing fascists
Text, Directing: Tiago Rodrigues
Co -artist: Magda Bizarro
Scenography: F. Ribeiro
Light: Nuno Meira
Costumes: José António Tenento
Sound Directing, Music: Pedro Costa
Chorway, vocal design: João Henriques
Choreography: Sofia Dias, Vítor Roriz
Starring: Isabel Abreu, Romeu Costa, António Fonseca, Beatriz Maia, Marco Mendonça, António Parra, Carolina Passos Sousa, João Vicente
Sounding: Cláudio de Castro, Nadezhda Bocharova, Paula Mora, Pedro Moldão
Arms Instructor: David Chan Cordiro
Translation: Daniel Hahn (English), Agnė Pulokaitė (Lithuanian)
Duration: 150 min. Premiere: Center Cultural Vila Floor (Gimarains, Portugal), 2020
Producer: Theater National D. Maria II (Lisbon)
Executive Producer: Festival d'Avignon
Cotrodiusers: Wiener Festwochen, Emilia Romagna Theater Fondazion (Modena), Théâtre de la Cité - CDN tooulouse Occitanie & Théâtre Garonne Scène Européenne Toulouse, Festival d'Orne à Paris & Théâtre des Bouffes du Ntra. Comédie de Caen, Théâtre de Liège, Maison de La Culture d'Amiens, Bit Theatergarasen (Bergen), Le Trident-Scène National de Cherbourg-Ententin, Llure (Barcelona), Cultural Villa Flor (Guimarães) (Montemor-o-Nov). Support Almeida Garrett Wines, Cano Amarelo, CulturGest
Thanksgiving: Mariana Gomes, Rui Pina Coelho, Margarida Bak Gordon, Rita Mendes and Theater National D. Maria II team. We also thank Sarah Barros Leitão, Pedro Gili and Rui M. Silva, who, although no longer appear on stage, will always remain "Katarina".
Music: Hania Rani (Biesy and Now, Run), Joanna Brouk (The Nymph Rising, Calling the Sailor), Lauurel Halo (Rome Theme III et Hyphae) and Rosalía (de Plata)
Performance
Southern Portugal, a beautiful warm evening, a cozy house in the rural area. A large family is preparing for dinner: the steak of boar and the fresh asparagus garnish smells delicious. But the details take the idyll - why do all members of this family wear skirts and aprons? Why do they all call each other catarin? All of this is part of the strange ritual that this family has been living for 70 years.
It was for so many years that peasant Katarina Euphemia was killed - the antigonus of her time, resisting the dictator who ruled Portugal in 1933-1974. Since then, every year, one of the members of this family has a duty to kill a fascist and thus support the lively spirit of vengeance in a country -stricken country. But now, in 2028, the youngest Katarina resists the sacred family tradition and refuses to kill her first victim.
The performance raises the question - what is fascism? Is it permissible to resort to violence when fighting for a better world? Can we defend democracy by means and weapons that are essentially anti -democratic? The dramaturgy of the performance is the fruit of collective work born in the creative group of texts and forms of totalitarianism, violence and radical right -wing thought in Europe. While working on this topic, the creators relied on Hanna Arendt, Slavoy Žižek's texts, but not limited to them - they used a wide author's palette from Sophocles to Albert Camus and Edward Bond. A lot of attention was also paid to the analysis of populist leaders - Trump, Bolsonar, Orbán.
Although the process of rehearsing the performance unexpectedly ceased due to pandemic, the performance premiered at the Vila Floral Cultural Center in Portugal in September 2020. Then there was another quarantine, and finally the second premiere of the performance was shown in the Lisbon National Mary II Theater in April 2021.
The performance has traveled to many of the world's major festivals and scenes since 2021, and has been awarded more than once with important prizes, including the Best Foreign Performance Prize at UBU Awards in Italy (2023) and the French Critics Association (2023).
Theater is a weapon
The director's word
We started this creative process by asking ourselves whether the theater could penetrate today's reality, and I was very keen to find a way to deal with helplessness. First we have to question our helplessness as citizens. Then give up the challenge of your own as creators helpless. By imagining the theater as a hallway leading to action (political, social, criminal, etc.), we testify to the transformation of the art of art and at the same time emphasize the fundamental difference between theater and action. The freedom of imagination we experience when observing the action on stage allows us to distance ourselves from social and legal norms. In the theater we can provoke, challenge and question the existing order and morality. However, it is this freedom of imagination that becomes a barrier that does not allow us to influence society directly. Perhaps we will not have to put as much effort as we thought we would break down not only the fourth wall, but also the remaining three that distinguish us from what is happening outside. Instead of binding yourself in direct relationships with the present and reality, we believe that the best way to talk about what is happening today is to create fictions of a near future. This is not only a reaction to our collective everyday life, which is sorely lacking in poetry, but also a solution dictated by the performance [dramaturgy], unexpectedly transferring the main problems to the future. About the choice of words
I chose the word "fascists" - from a scientific point of view - because other words describing radical right movements inspired by fascists are now already normalized in our speech. When we say "radical right", "extreme nationalist", "sovereign", "nationalist", unfortunately, even when we say "patriot". Certain words we use, related to populism and radical right, have penetrated the dictionary of democracy not only for the lead, but also because of their normal use in public speeches, media, politics, cafes. But if we call something a fascist, it will still annoy you. Therefore, I demand the right to use this word, because others who should be delayed, such as "radical right" or "populism", have lost their effects. When I heard people in Sao Paulo or Rio's demonstrations as a fascist, I realized that a sociologist or historian would consider this term inaccurate. However, for me, as a citizen, this use of the word seems very correct.
Critics' reviews
"This performance has reached such a level of craftsmanship that if someone calls it a manifesto, it would be a manifesto that summarizes the importance of theater in modern society. Can theater free us from apathy? Rodrigues liberates critical thinking, which is often transformed into a fraudulent neutrality when we encounter complex social contexts and reacting to them. "
Marta Moreira, intro.pt
"Tiago Rodrigues' Katarina ..." has all the best tragedy features. It inspires personal sacrifice, is dialectical, not didactic, considering the most favorable collective fate, and is indifferent to what its heroes will become. In addition, it reminds us of the importance of rituals in the same time in shaping and maintaining human communities. "
Rui Pina Coelho, Sinis Em Linha

Late spectators are not allowed into the hall.
Time: October 9th. 18:30
Location: Lithuanian National Drama Theater, Great Hall (Gedimino Ave. 4, Vilnius)
Event duration: 150 min.
Language: Portuguese language with Lithuanian and English subtitles
Discounts: Students, schoolchildren, seniors, people with disabilities.The performance uses shots' sound effects!

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