Events

If you ask a random passerby, "What do you know about Lewis Carroll?" you will most likely hear about a little girl, an eternally late white rabbit, and a fantastical world. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, originally titled Alice's Adventures Under Ground by the author, is a captivating and inexhaustible work. It has been adapted into many genres, such as musicals, contemporary operas, ballets, films, and plays. Behind these adaptations lies a myth, an author, and a story that go far beyond a child's dream tale. Oxford professor of logic L. Carroll created a world where nonsense and childhood intertwine, raising the question: what remains of Lewis in Alice?

The Klaipėda Youth Theater's production of "BEING ALICE," directed by Frenchman Didier Girauldon, is not limited to a mere retelling of the classic tale. The aim is to explore this duality together with the audience, the dialogue between the author and his work, between reality and imagination.

In Lewis Carroll's work, his ability to reflect the dreamlike nature of existence, reminiscent of Shakespeare's famous phrase, "the stuff that dreams are made of," is captivating. This work reveals a subtle distance between words and the multitude of meanings they can acquire, which can be attributed to them like a mask. This play on words and their meanings reveals our most intimate truths, which, like reflections in a mirror, can sometimes be cruel, but are always magnificent. It is a profound questioning of our essence: "to be or not to be" in the presence of others.

Alice in Wonderland, Alice Through the Looking Glass, The Hunting of the Snark, excerpts from the author's letters, as well as poetic, philosophical, and theatrical texts: these are just some of the sources that are explored, where each actor becomes a storyteller, character, singer, musician, and puppeteer, immersing themselves in the story and bringing it to life. Each scene, each character, each spoken word opens the door to a world of secrets and magic. In joyful chaos, in a moving cabinet of curiosities, the performers, like artists in their studios, will take on the challenges of Alice's dream-filled universe and its constant metamorphoses.

Director Didier Girauldon is a theater and opera director, actor, producer, and educator who has been involved in international projects in France, England, the United States, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Scotland, and Canada. As a multidisciplinary artist, he explores collective creation, focusing primarily on the dynamics of movement, text, and rhythm.

Director: Didier Girauldon

Set designer: Renata Valčik

Composer: Nijolė Sinkevičiūtė

Cast: Ieva Pakštytė, Donatas Stakėnas, Simonas Lunevičius, Asta Zacharovaitė, Elzbieta Girkantaitė, Rugilė Latvėnaitė, Vaiva Kvedaravičiūtė

Assistant director: Viktorija Valskytė