Waiting for Godot

Like every Rimas Tuminas production, this one is no exception: Waiting for Godot emerged from the inner life of the State Vilnius Small Theatre, from its rhythms, moods and needs. First performed at the very end of 2002, this work based on the legendary play by Nobel Prize laureate Samuel Beckett was no coincidence in the theatre’s repertoire. Born in the theatre’s unfinished, still-under-renovation premises, the production not only conveyed the moods and expectations of the theatre’s people, but also seemed to grow out of that poor, mystery-shrouded vaulted space. Even during rehearsals, the director insisted that it be called not a play but a “theatrical evening.” The impression of an unfinished stage work that does not impose any particular interpretation was preserved when the production premiered in 2006. Together with the creative team and just five actors, the director immerses the audience in a dense and compelling atmosphere, inviting them to join in a gourmet theatrical game and become witnesses to the birth of theatre. In this production, full of playfulness, improvisation and laughter, yet also a strange “dreamlike quality,” it is not the director but the actors who hold sway. The seemingly inexhaustible acting range of improvisation virtuoso Andrius Žebrauskas and his equal Arvydas Dapšys captivates the audience and takes them through a whole range of emotions.