Kristina Steiblytė: The Guardian

What happens to a person when the familiar world loses its rules? Can a forest become a refuge for someone who has experienced abuse? Or is the forest itself a wounded being, searching for someone to hear its silence? “The Guardian” invites audiences on a journey through a forest where reality, myths and people’s inner experiences intertwine. Here, the forest is not merely a place of peace or refuge. It is a space marked by human activity, with cleared areas, scarred trees and traces of disappearing life. At the same time, it is a mysterious territory where familiar boundaries dissolve and the possibility opens up of experiencing the world differently. At the heart of the performance is a girl’s journey from a world permeated by control, power and manipulation into the forest. There, two wounded beings meet: a human and nature. Their experiences begin to mirror one another, and their shared vulnerability offers the possibility of forging a new bond based not on force, but on sensitivity, attentiveness and empathy. The figure of the guardian also emerges on this journey: one who watches, bears witness, protects and remains vigilant between different worlds. But who is really protecting whom? Is it the person protecting the forest, or the forest protecting the person? Can the forest save us, or must we first dare to lose our way in it if we are to understand it? Playwright Kristina Steiblytė developed this play after winning the competition for the European Residency Programme organised by LNDT and its international partners, during residencies in Madrid, Zagreb, Brussels and Marseille.