Resurgence and independence (from 1989)

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Atgimimas; Nepriklausomybė; Teatras; Valstybiniai dramos teatrai; Dramaturgija; Spektakliai; Režisieriai; Aktoriai; Kūryba; Festivaliai; Kultūra; Lithuania; Resurgence; Independence; Theater; State drama theaters; Dramaturgy; Performances; Directors; Actors; Creation; Festivals; Culture.

ENTheater life during the first years of Lithuania's independence was satiated with confusion rather than diversity in freedom of speech and expression. The press of 1988-1992 continuously reported that contemporary theater was merely replicating the form and aesthetics of the previous decade. Seemingly, the theater had forgotten both the Aesopian language, which it mastered throughout the decades of Soviet occupation, and the ideas it hid so well from the claws of censorship. These claims were confirmed at the national dramaturgy festival Atgaiva (Siauliai, 1988) and The Baltic Theater Spring (Vilnius, 1989). Most of the plays shown there were inspired by the ideas of a national theater and mirrored the changes taking place in society. Yet Lithuanian and foreign critics seem to comprehend that theater had become a politicizing and venal institution - not from the Soviet, but from the national point of view. [Extract, p. 158]