Guests | Small Marital Crimes

Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, “Small Marital Crimes”

A love detective, Gilles, wakes up in hospital with his head bandaged and amnesia. A beautiful woman who comes into his room says that she is Lisa, his wife, and that Gilles is her husband. Lisa takes Gilles home and begins telling him the story of their life together, which he cannot remember at all. Thus begins an intellectual duel between two people—a labyrinth of relationships, a tangle of memories. Which of them is lying? Or are they both?

The longer they talk, the more layers are revealed: tenderness turns menacing, while humour becomes a disguised attack. Their dialogue plays out like a game of chess, with the truth changing with every sentence. What is love? Can it be reconstructed? Perhaps marriage is a creative process in which spouses seek to remake each other—or perhaps it is an alliance of killers?

Schmitt combines philosophical questions with the details of everyday life, skilfully balancing erotic playfulness, black humour and psychological intrigue.

Director OLEGAS ŠAPOŠNIKOVAS (LV), also a professional psychologist, creates deeply grounded and motivated stage action. The charismatic duo of actors VALDA BIČKUTĖ and VYTAUTAS RUMŠAS (Jr.) compellingly conveys the characters’ complex experiences. Set designer MARIJUS JACOVSKIS and costume designer JUOZAS VALENTA have created a space for the production that is recognisable yet aesthetically stylised.

Presented by VŠĮ “LUMO STUDIJA”
2025