Raimondas Klezys: Rams (theatre performance for young people)

Actor Raimondas Klezys shares stories from his life with young audience members. The performance is intended for teenagers aged 14 and over. Through stories about childhood, games, television programmes he watched and conversations with his grandmother, more serious themes emerge, presented playfully and with humour. In this informal performance, everyone can take part as much or as little as they like, and the audience’s responses shape the performance differently each time. The ball used in the performance is not only a prop for play, but also a creative tool that draws the audience into a personal story through playfulness—an open, sensitive story that invites them to recognise themselves in it.

“Your father has gone to warmer climes, and he is a ram,” Raimondas’s grandmother told him when he was a child. Are our fathers really rams? Will we grow up to be different from them, or are we exactly the same? The one-man show “Rams” is a joint creation by actor and playwright Raimondas Klezys and director Justas Tertelis. It invites audiences to reflect on resentment, anger and forgiveness—subjects young people may not always feel comfortable discussing with their peers.

Actor Raimondas Klezys says that expressions such as “a flock of sheep” and “as stupid as a sheep” are heard particularly often in schools. “You can feel like a real ram in a flock, with the shepherd deciding everything for you. In life, the shepherd’s counterpart could be anyone—fate, God, your boss, or someone else. In this performance, I want to shake up a young person’s thinking and ask: are you really doing, learning and pursuing what you want to do in your life? Or is it just a culture of imitation, where you do things simply because you have to—because those are the rules, and that is what your great-grandparents, grandparents or other relatives did?” Raimondas Klezys explains the deeper meaning behind the title.

He adds that theatre is a way to talk, connect and analyse. “That’s why, when performing this show, I involve the audience in the live action and respond to what is happening here and now. In this way, I try to create a space where a young person is seen, heard and valued,” says the actor.

In 2024, the performance “Rams” received the Golden Stage Cross award for Best Performance for Young Audiences.

Producer: No Shoes Theatre
The performance is partially funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.