White Tales

“White Tales” is a shadow-puppet theatre performance based on the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen. Choosing this rare form of puppet theatre, director Nijolė Indriūnaitė and set designer Aušra Bagočiūnaitė Paukštienė created a transparent, luminous performance that revives the traditions of paper-cutting in Lithuania and other European countries. For the poetic piece, N. Indriūnaitė drew on three of H. C. Andersen’s Christmas tales: “The Little Match Girl,” “The Fir Tree,” and “The Snowman.” In this lyrical shadow play, the director asks the audience what a celebration is and what it means to us. We all understand celebration in our own way… But how do a lonely little Girl and a felled forest Fir Tree experience it? Theatre critic Audronė Girdzijauskaitė wrote about the performance: “On that day, the shadow-theatre performance—which has no firmly established traditions in Lithuania—seemed perfect to me in the small hall of ‘Lėlė’: the proportions of the objects, the grace of the silhouettes, the lighting, the clarity of the language and lyrical tone (sentimentality was avoided!), the rhythms of movement and changes in the imagery, and the subtle acting style of Almirа Grybauskaitė and Elvyra Piškinaitė moved me to tears. A performance like this can be shown to everyone, everywhere.” (“A Restless March, or Thoughtless Everyday Life,” “Literatūra ir menas,” 2007-03-16)