The Silence of the Sirens
Lithuania
Sirenų Tyla
direction
Laura Kutkaitė
text
Teklė Kavtaradze
Strong aesthetics and a sense for contradictions: the myth of seductive women and victorious heroes seen from the perspective of #MeToo.
language
Lithuanian with German & English surtitles
duration
105 min
more about the artist
The sirens are singing – beautifully, writes Homer. They sit on an island, lure men onto land and then kill them. Except for Orpheus, who sings louder, and Odysseus, whose companions stuff wax in their ears and have him tied to the mast so that he can listen to the sirens without dying. European mythology is dominated by violence: between people, gods, mythical creatures and the sexes. Inequality and power imbalances produce fears and defence strategies instead of relationships. What makes us hold on to these structures?
Working with her collaborators, director Laura Kutkaitė puts a contemporary story right in the middle of the mine field of myth: four years after the highpoint of the #MeToo movement in Lithuania, she puts the issue of abuse of power in the arts world on the stage. Posing on a rock, four female actors open their island theatre and tell true stories from their working life, while waiting for “the great Odysseus”. They leave no dark detail out – not even the competition between them – and at the same time perform theatre: in costume and makeup, with sound and light, with bitter humour, passion, vulnerability and plenty of reasons. In this way they strike the structures exactly where they could change.
Laura Kutkaitė, *1993, studied choreography and philosophy before starting to study Directing at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, where she graduated in 2021 with a production of Sarah Kane’s PHAEDRA’S LOVE. THE SILENCE OF THE SIRENS is her first work after graduation as part of the Young Creators Programme at the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre in Vilnius and opened the new studio stage there in June 2022.
The performance takes place with the kind support of the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre in Vilnius.
With Gerda Čiuraitė, Rimantė Valiukaitė, Toma Vaškevičiūtė, Jūratė Vilūnaitė, Aistė Zabotkaitė
Direction Laura Kutkaitė
Text Teklė Kavtaradze & Laura Kutkaitė in collaboration with the cast / Scenography & Costumes Paulina Turauskaitė / Composition Agnė Matulevičiūtė / Choreography Laura Kutkaitė / Choreographic Consulting Agnietė Lisičkinaitė / Lighting Design Vilius Vilutis / Assistant Director Urtė Sėjūnaitė / Assistant Playwright Simona Jurkuvėnaitė & Eglė Poškevičiūtė / Production Rugilė Pukštytė / German Surtitles & Setup Arna Aley / English Surtitles Emily Pollak / Operator Vidas Bizunevičius / Technical Support Jakob Gerber