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On 13 September, the 85th artistic season at the National Drama Theatre in Vilnius will open with the premiere of the play ‘Quanta’ by the Polish director – Lukasz Twarkowski. The creator, who started his directing career on the stage of LNTD, today is one of the most sought-after Polish directors abroad. In the performance Quanta, together with Joanna Bednarczyk – the author of the play – the creator delves into quantum physics. The choreography for the performance was created by Paweł Sakowicz, Fabien Lédé is responsible for the set design, Lubomir Grzelak is responsible for the music, Svenja Gassen is the author of the costumes, and Jakub Lech is the author of the video projections. The co-producer is the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
Łukasz Twarkowski (born 1983) is currently one of the most internationally recognised Polish theatre artists. His productions have been shown at the most important festivals and stages in Europe, in the last year alone they could be seen in Paris, Hamburg, Riga, Vilnius, Athens, Brno and Warsaw. Tarkowski combines theatre and visual arts in his multimedia productions. An essential element of his work is the exploration of the possibilities and limitations of theatre as a medium and tool of communication.
The Adam Mickiewicz Institute, which promotes Polish culture on the world stage, has been supporting the artist for several years. As the Institute’s deputy director Olga Brzezinska explains: ,‘The theatrical avant-garde is an important part of Poland’s cultural heritage. Łukasz Twarkowski’s works, although they enter into discussion with various currents of the performing arts, are characterised by a high level of innovation. It surprises with its formal solutions, the way the subject matter is approached, and the message. There is no doubt in my mind that this is art for our times and is therefore worth watching, discussing and supporting. ‘’
This is not the first time the creator has collaborated with the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre. In 2017, the Polish director’s first foreign production opened the78th season at the Vilnius theatre. The production then won as many as four Golden Stage Crosses – Lithuania’s most important theatre awards. In 2020, the premiere of ‘Respublika’, realised by the director with an international ensemble, took place at the Vilnius Film Cluster. It was the artist’s second production in collaboration with LNTD.
This time the director focuses on quantum physics and again wants to engage all the senses of the audience: “I’m not interested in what happens on stage, but what happens in the audience’s heads. That’s why we use a hybrid theatre approach, combining different tools – sound design, music, blurring the boundaries between video projections, cinema, live acting and choreography – to create a unique experience, to find a unique language that no longer represents a script, no longer tells a story, but works on sensory levels.”
In ‘Quanta’, the audience is transported to a hotel in the Swiss mountains in the interwar period, where very strange things happen overnight. The physical properties of space and time are disrupted. The hotel guests themselves – quantum physicists, artists and other visitors – are also affected. Something begins to change in their memories, attitudes, emotions and desires. No one understands what is happening.
‘Quantum physics is very interesting because it requires you to start thinking differently, to forget everything you knew about physics. When people start thinking about quantum physics, they think it is simply impossible because it is based on contradictions, there is no logic. Nevertheless, you can discover how beautiful it is because it allows you to believe in free will. (…)’ – Łukasz Twarkowski says.
The set design for the performance was created by Fabien Lede. The author of the video projection is Jakub Lech. The costumes were designed by Svenja Gassen. The music was composed by Lubomir Grzelak. Eugenijus Sabaliauskas is responsible for the light direction, and Paweł Sakowicz for the choreography. Joanna Bednarczyk’s play was translated from Polish into Lithuanian by Vyturys Jarutis.
The performance will feature Vainius Sodeika, Nelė Savičenko, Rytis Saladžius, Airida Gintautaitė, Rasa Samuolytė, Algirdas Dainavičius, Martynas Nedzinskas, Gediminas Rimeika, Rimantė Valiukaitė, Arūnas Vozbutas, Aistė Zabotkaitė and Marius Čižauskas.
‘Quanta’ is being produced in collaboration with Onassis Culture Athens (screenings of the play in the Greek capital are also planned in the autumn), as well as with the International Theatre Festival “Divine Comedy”, the De Singel Theatre in Antwerp and the National Theatre in Brno, Czech Republic. The performance is co-produced by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. The production is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania. The performance’s partner is ‘NewError’. The premiere of the “Quanta” will take place on 13th and 14th September in the Great Hall of the Lithuanian National Drama Theater. The performance will be then shown in Athens in October, in Krakow in December and again in Vilnius in February.