Flying Travolta

The play “Flying Travolta” is for those who miss rich acting performances and good stories. It is an engaging tale, infused with gentle irony and humor, about the efforts each of us does—or does not—make to live our own life rather than one imposed by circumstances. The play is presented by a young theatre-making team from neighboring Latvia. Director Toms Treinis chose contemporary Latvian playwright Artūrs Dici’s play for its performance in Šiauliai for a reason: as the director says, its subject is equally relevant and understandable to audiences in both Latvia and Lithuania. The play tells of the residents of a remote village, whose everyday lives are mired in personal troubles. Rich in everyday speech, vivid dialogue and humor, it takes us to a small, forgotten village where the residents, making no effort to change anything or change themselves, let one much like the next day drift by. At the center of the story is a young man named Travolta, whom many in the village consider simply “crazy” because of his reserved nature and strange habits. Among other peculiarities, Travolta has an incomprehensible, dangerous and seemingly pointless “hobby”: suddenly jumping out in front of cars speeding through the village. One day, this absurdly foolish pastime attracts the attention of journalists, and events take a very unexpected turn... Travolta seems, like all the other characters, to have meekly accepted his fate. In truth, however, he carries a great family secret within him, and when it is revealed, it becomes clear that beneath the play’s rough surface lies a devastating tragedy of love, guilt and atonement. Travolta is something like Latvia’s Forrest Gump, trying to find a way forward even under the most unfavorable circumstances. The performance is led by the actors’ psychologically precise work, marked by a gentle touch of irony. Each character feels trapped by circumstances that, in their view, prevent them from breaking free and fulfilling their dreams. As a result, each feels unhappy in their own way. But do they truly want and try to change their lives? The playwright, A. Dicis, says that with this play he wanted to recall a very simple but, sadly, often forgotten truth: life is not something abstract—“every single second, it is happening within us, and we ourselves are the true creators of our lives. There is no such place as ‘nowhere’, where life seems to pass by without touching people.” Director Toms Treinis: “While staging this play, I think about the causes of human unfulfillment and resignation to fate. Through the characters’ mundane and banal daily lives, their emptiness and self-destruction, I try to approach the fundamental clichés of thought that shape such a life. They cannot be dispelled by empty talk, ‘wise’ words heard from others, self-pity or blame, but by concrete steps and actions that must be taken to bring about change. Confronting fate is not pleasant for many, but it is the essential condition for beginning to change.” Premiere: 2023-03-26. Finansu