Marius von Mayenburg „KANKINYS“ (Rež. Agnius Jankevičius)

The performance is shown in Russian with Lithuanian subtitles

Attention! The show uses loud noises, smoke and bright flashes of light.

Marius von Mayenburg's "Märtyrer" was and is still being staged in many European theaters. The play tells the story of Benjamin, a teenager raised by a single mother. When Benjamin's mother is told that her son is having problems at school, her first thought is drugs. But the guy was "sitting" on a different needle - the Bible. The student finds all the answers in the Holy Scriptures, turns it into a tool to torture and terrorize those around him. I think Benjamin is the only one who knows what is good and what is bad. As a result, conflicts, opposition, psychological struggle arise. At school, he declares war on debauchery. Whatever - refuses to go swimming in the pool because girls in bikinis offend his religious feelings. And this is just the beginning.

Playwright M. von Mayenburg wrote The Martyr in 2012, the same year he staged it himself at the Schaubühne theater in Berlin. The play, which consists of 27 short and specific scenes, resembles a movie script, its problematic field is wide and relevant - the struggle of ideas, the role of extremism and religion in society is examined, the contradictions of Western society, division, the threat of fanaticism and how it correlates with religion are revealed. The play reveals the total disorder of adults and society in the face of Christian radicalism. Theater critics compare the effect of this play to the explosion of a hand grenade - the text exposes neoliberalism, political correctness and tolerance, very openly criticizes superstitions that tempt young minds. It is not by chance that the madness of sexual and social maturation in "Martyr" is compared to the zeal of faith Mayenburg's "Martyr" productions in Lithuania, Latvia and Poland emphasize that Benjamin Ziudelis does not make any compromises, without stopping causes confusion, gets involved in conflicts. He communicates with his single mother, classmates, and teachers only by bragging about the truths of the Holy Scriptures, insisting on unconditional adherence to two and a half thousand year old dogmas. The most heated conflict erupts between him, a religious fundamentalist, and biology teacher Erika Roth, an equally radical atheist Darwinist.

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Marius von Mayenburg (born 1972) is a German playwright and screenwriter. In 1994-1998 he studied dramaturgy at the University of the Arts in Berlin. In 1995 he did an internship at the "Kammerspiele" theater in Munich. Since 1996, he has been working as a playwright at the Berlin Deutsches Theater, where a play based on his first play "Haarmann" was staged, and since 1999 at the Berlin Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz. The play "The Face of Fire" written in 1997 was positively evaluated by the critics, and the performance based on it by director Oskars Koršunov became an exceptional one in the context of Lithuanian theater. Martyr was staged by O. Koršunovas at the Lithuanian National Drama Theater in 2015.

Agnius Jankevičius (b. 1979) – theater director, actor . In 2003, he graduated from the Lithuanian Theater and Music Academy with a bachelor's degree in theater direction (course director - Jonas Vaitkus). In 2012, he obtained a master's degree. Created roles in theater and cinema. One of the founders of the wide artistic profile syndicate "Bad Rabbits". The performances of A. Jankevičius are characterized by deformed images of characters, sharpened plastic and vocal expression, critical political and social position, and an effort to understand and convey the worldliness of his generation. Directors are interested in a person who is outside society, an outsider, a misfit. A. Jankevičius staged the plays: "Cursed love" (2010), "Gronholm's method" (2013), "Ice" (2015), "Idiot" (2018) in the old theater of Vilnius.

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BENJAMIN

Today, on Saint Polycarp's day, I declare before God and the world: I am fed up. Tired of hiding and pretending to be sick, even though I'm the only healthy one. I'm tired of Lydia's bare shoulders glistening like glazed donuts in the shower mist. Tired of staring at Melanie's crotch through foggy glasses as she swims in front of me. [...] I would make peace with it, maybe I didn't understand before, but now I understand, I clearly feel it and even my body betrays it, so today, on the day of St. Polycarp, I declare war on immorality [...].

You know that this is wrong and that we are taking the easiest way. You know other religions laugh at us for that. Other religions have warriors of God, suicide bombers, martyrs who give up their lives for wrong faith. No Christian does that anymore these days. Everyone thinks that we need to talk and find a compromise, that the Sermon on the Mount is all about tolerance, and that we don't have enough cheeks to turn them to everyone. That's because you don't read the scriptures and make up a feel-good, all-forgiving, peace-smoking, hashish hippie God. But all this is nonsense, because the Lord says [...].

(Marius von Mayenburg. "Martyr". Translated from German by Jurgita Mikutytė)

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