Comedy: Dramma Italiano. Shall We Avoid a Tragedy 2?

A new comedy, “Shall We Avoid a Tragedy 2. Dramma Italiano”. Starring Giedrius Savickas, Mantas Stonkus, Gelminė Glemžaitė, Milda Noreikaitė and Kęstutis Cicėnas/Petras Kuneika. Directed by Antanas Obcarskas.

In this new comedy, well-known actors not only make the audience laugh until they cry, but also address sensitive topics that are especially relevant today. The audience laughs at the absurdity on stage because the same kind of absurdity is happening in real life. The action takes place in Italy, but the problems faced by its characters are remarkably relevant and, one might even say, reflect present-day Lithuania like a mirror. Raids, theft, corruption and absurd attempts to escape responsibility are the news that bombards us from screens every day. The characters in the play experience exactly the same things on stage and speak openly about them.

How can you remain an honest citizen with high moral values when theft and deceit in government have become everyday occurrences? And then there is the continually rising cost of living: increasing food and fuel prices, higher taxes, and wages that fail to keep up. Many ordinary families face the same pressures in everyday life in Lithuania. These issues also become the catalyst for the play’s story.

The new comedy is not likely to be any less popular than its predecessor, “Shall We Avoid a Tragedy”. Like the first, it features not only a stellar cast but also striking, detailed stage sets that resemble a film set. People often ask whether those who have not seen the first “Shall We Avoid a Tragedy” can go straight to the new comedy. The answer is yes, absolutely. The second part is a completely different story. The two are linked by the same fantastic quartet of actors.

Giedrius Savickas and Milda Noreikaitė once again play a couple in the comedy. This time they are Džiovanis and Antonija, an emotional married couple, and it is quite unclear who has whom under their thumb. Married in life, they are married on stage once again. Mantas Stonkus and Gelminė Glemžaitė play Luidžis and Margarita. They love one another, but do not necessarily understand each other well. Add a somewhat naive police officer (Kęstutis Cicėnas/Petras Kuneika) to this explosive quartet and you have a volatile mix that needs only a tiny spark.

That spark appears one ordinary day at a local shopping centre. What happened there that turned everything upside down? Let’s leave that as a mystery. We can say only that the incident caused a kind of butterfly effect: an incredible, even absurd, chain of events in which all five characters become entangled. Once someone tells a lie, the mill of fabrications draws everyone in. Their attempts to get out of it are insanely funny, sink the characters even deeper, and give the police officer an even bigger headache.