THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY || Performance for adults

Irish writer Oscar Wilde was famous for his charm and extravagance – both in his creative work and in the aestheticism of his life. At the age of 34 he published the book "The Happy Prince and Other Tales" – from that moment on he became a well-known author. His only novel, "The Picture of Dorian Gray", first published in 1890, can be said to have been written in the form of a fairy tale as well. Yet this time the content is considerably darker... And it is no wonder that after its publication a scandal erupted: there were calls to ban it and to convict the author for promoting an immoral lifestyle. The creative team behind "The Picture of Dorian Gray" comprises well-known puppet theatre artists whose collaborative work audiences of "Lėlė" theatre are already familiar with: in 2014, G. Radvilavičiūtė, together with set designer Renata Valčik, choreographer Sigita Mikalauskaite and composer Rita Mačiliūnaitė, created the show "The Sand Man", which won the Golden Stage Cross, has been successfully running in the theatre's repertoire and is regularly invited to represent Lithuanian culture at international theatre festivals. The new show seems to continue the theme of the duality of human personality and self-destruction already explored in "The Sand Man". "When a person looks at a painting, they step into another time. Time expands. In the portrait, a person recognises themselves. Looking at a portrait is like looking in a mirror. A mirror gives a person the unique opportunity to see themselves, their face, their eyes, and creates the conditions for a dialogue with oneself. Looking outward, a person sees their interior. Looking in a mirror, a person can enter another world. And these two worlds can merge. Looking in a mirror, we can see what is not directly accessible to our gaze. The depth of a mirror tells us that we can see much more, or in an entirely different way, than we see in our reality. A mirror is our personal portrait of the present. Today a person is surrounded by a great many mirrors, i.e. reflective surfaces – from real mirrors and windows to lakes and puddles, snowflakes, pieces of coal and so on. They all create rifts in the visible world, in the fabric of things – like windows into another world. Yet an excessive focus on oneself and one's physical appearance is a path toward vanity, narcissism, conceit, arrogance, egocentrism. Without love, without close people, without walking together, beauty and success mean nothing. Life is unpleasant when you are constantly looking at yourself. To this day, some primitive tribes believe that a mirror can steal the soul." – director Gintarė Radvilavičiūtė shares her thoughts.

Adresas: Vilniaus teatras „Lėlė“