Premjera: SUSIRINKIMAS. Rež. Jonas Allunan

Director and author of the staging: Jonas Allunan
Set designer: Marius Nekrošius
Costume designer: Kristina Kruopenytė
Composer: Lukas Butkus
Light artist: Vilius Vilutis
Video artist: Tomas Stonys
Choreographer: Kamilė Pundziūtė
Assistant director: Lukas Petrauskas
Cast: Kristina Andrejauskaitė, Janina Antanėlienė, Dalija Brenciūtė, Giedrė Giedraitytė, Rūta Jonikaitė, Jonė Šadeikė, Dita Klinkaitė, Matas Sigliukas, Nerijus Gadliauskas, Gerardas Ciparis, Ainis Kazlauskas, Šarūnas Datenis
"The Gathering" is a two-part tragicomedy based on the original storylines of Aristophanes' comedies. Director Jonas Allunan and the creative team will take the audience to a fantastic country, possibly existing in an alternative reality. It is a kind of crooked mirror of imagination, which breaks the images of reality and presents a grotesque possible vision of humanity in the near future.
According to the director, "with the show, we want to talk about serious topics as seriously as possible, to play a silly game, abandoning (if possible) the seriousness of the theater. The basis of this game is a pure fantasy about the future of a country similar to ours, but which, I hope, never existed and will not exist. It is a work born from the feeling that the theater can no longer reflect today, because it has become too unstable. The question arises - are we not living in pure tragicomedy? This present inevitably leads to reflections on what the world will look like in the future. Therefore, those reflections turn into theatrical dreams, from which one has only to laugh. And to dream even the worst situation is a kind of inner psychotherapy.
In recent years, the country has been increasingly thinking about what could happen to a democratic society and what alternatives there are in general to such a system. Then I remembered that Aristophanes, the ancient Greek dramatist who was a critic of the democratic system at the time, presented possible simulations of reality to the audience. I wanted to rediscover the master of comedy, who created in the 5th century. Ave. Cr. towards the end, during a critical period of Athenian democracy in the face of the Peloponnesian War, and to reflect on how the comedies he wrote would be written today. Even the historical context of the comedies is strikingly similar to the situation of our day, when the autocratic Sparta began to fight against the democratic Athens (similar to this is the war started by Russia in Ukraine, thus igniting the conflict with the West and threatening the Third World War).
Aristophanes criticized political demagoguery and laughed at the inability of the Athenian government at the time to resolve conflicts. Aristophanes' three famous "women's" plays: "Lysistrates", "Women in the People's Assembly", "Women at the Thesmophorian Festival" - examined gender differences, ridiculed the inability of male power (patriarchy) to create state welfare and questioned the effectiveness of democracy. This part of comedies becomes the basis of the two-act tragicomedy "The Gathering".
Although Aristophanes' plays were written in ancient Greek times, when men had the right to rule and women were excluded from power, this adaptation will depict a world where not only the sexes but different human ideologies are at war. It is worth noting that in his comedies Aristophanes criticized the demagogy that flourished in ancient Athens the most, so when interpreting it, it is important to emphasize once again that the author did not really support either men or women, but simply ridiculed opposition, political campaigns and alternative ideas to democracy as another game of people's lies.
Today, it is becoming clear that at first glance, movements seeking public welfare can degenerate and lose their original ideas, that many things are becoming more and more absurdly ridiculous to us, and the polarization of society only crumbles the foundations of democracy. Today it seems that Plato was right: the state may need certain myths to unite citizens and maintain order and the common good. Myths are made every day now. And they become our different realities, as a result of which the dialogue between different sides disappears."
Premiere: 02/27/2026

ATTENTION. Spectators who are late are not allowed into the performance.
Doors open: 1 a.m. before the start of the performance
Children are not admitted for free

On the AllEvents portal you can always Buy tickets to an event Theater Premjera: SUSIRINKIMAS. Rež. Jonas Allunan, Vilnius, Valstybinis jaunimo teatras February 27

* 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.