Open the Door: Award-Winning theatre performance starts its European tour

The DECONFINING partner National Kaunas Drama Theatre (Lithuania) officially begins its international tour season. Following its critically acclaimed premiere in Lithuania, the powerful play Open the Door, directed by Justinas Vinciūnas and based on a text by Aristide Tarnagda (Burkina Faso), is now heading across Europe.

The performance will be staged in:

• Rijeka, Croatia – April 11, Ivan Zajc Croatian National Theatre (read more about the Rijeka premiere).
• Bergen, Norway – August 13, Corner Theatre
• Vienna, Austria – August 24, WUK Centre for Culture and Arts

This international tour is part of DECONFINING.

A universal story rooted in local struggles

The poignant story by playwright Aristide Tarnagda is universal. It reflects both the rampage of terrorism in the playwright’s home continent and the military context in Europe. However, the director and his creative team emphasise not so much the political conflict, but rather the family drama through the experiences of the protagonist, his struggle between nihilism and idealism, and the notion of atonement.

Is it possible to forgive oneself after taking another person’s life?

This play invites the audience not only to witness the cooperation between countries from very distant and contrasting cultures, but also to observe the universal spiritual struggle of an individual.

International team and recognition

The performance features an international creative team:

• Set Design: Boubacar Souley Salifou
• Costume & Co-Set Design: Patricija Vytytė
• Lighting Design: Vladimir Šerstabojev
• Music: Mantas Mockus
• Translation: Vytas Kraujelis
• It stars Povilas Barzdžius, Eglė Mikulionytė, Robertas Petraitis, Kęstutis Povilaitis, and Sigitas Šidlauskas.

The play was awarded two Golden Stage Crosses in Lithuania: Best Emerging Artist: Justinas Vinciūnas and Best Music: Mantas Mockus.

→ Read our interview with the director here.

More than a play: a cultural dialogue

The performance reminds us of the power of art to build bridges between seemingly very distant social contexts, historical experiences, and geographical continents. Earlier in this project, NKDT, together with artists from Senegal, Dakar, the art gallery Raw Material Company, and the artist collective The School of Mutants (Stéphane Bottéro, Hamedine Kane, and Valérie Osouf), produced a short film Dialogue from between the Worlds. It reconstructed an imaginary dialogue between film artists who have never met, the Senegalese Ousmane Sembène and the Lithuanian avant-garde filmmaker Jonas Mekas from New York. The film depicts something that historically never happened. Meanwhile, Open the Door adopts a different strategy; it represents what is taking place everywhere and always: war, family, insiders, and outsiders.