Kazys Binkis: Atžalynas

At the heart of *Atžalynas*, written by Kazys Binkis in 1938, is a young man accused without having committed a crime. Even when scorned, he does not renounce his values and continues to believe in life and in other people. This is a lively, compelling drama imbued with the optimism of interwar Lithuania and a willingness to make sacrifices—values that are so lacking today. In the words of director Jonas Vaitkus, this work could become spring rain in today’s theatre, which has turned away from fundamental values and leans towards destruction and negation. The director invited not only experienced actors to perform in the production, but also students from the acting course at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, which he leads. Interpreted by such an enthusiastic creative team, *Atžalynas* is an excellent opportunity to rediscover classic Lithuanian drama.

“While writing this play, I somewhat deceived the theatre in the sense that the play turned out to be for young people, an age category that is very broad—from about 12 to 60 years of age and beyond.” (Kazys Binkis)

Director Jonas Vaitkus:

“Today there is reason to return to certain things in which the spirit of values has endured. From our point of view, it may seem simple, overly sincere, primitively sentimental, but behind the words spoken in this work there is a certain radiance. I want to return to the purity in *Atžalynas*. But there is also a destructive element in this material. It is touched on only very subtly in this play, yet it shows how progress and anti-progress—technical progress and spiritual anti-progress—‘advance’; and that is precisely what we see now. These ‘scissors’ show that the hints of destructiveness have flourished so much that *Atžalynas* can be like spring rain on stage today.

“In this production I seek documentary realism, and from the actors, an inner feeling. It is important that they have clear convictions, a sense of the world, and the ability to look deeply and seriously into a person—not someone complicated, warped, scattered, crushed, unable to understand themselves, living by instinct amid money and emotional passions, but a person who has hope and a future, who believes that human life is the greatest value. Only then, looking at life—from birth to the last breath—do you begin to understand how late, how very late, people realize all this: they are afraid to live, to feel, and to take responsibility for their lives. As I read this clear ‘poem’ that *Atžalynas* is, these things become necessary—to us and to the people working on this production.”