The Turquoise Monster

At Keistuolių teatras—the true home of commedia dell’arte in Lithuania—another play by the brilliant Italian playwright Carlo Gozzi comes to life, drawing audiences into a theatrical celebration of magic, metaphor, symbolism, music and pointed irony. Born in 16th-century Italy, commedia dell’arte soon captivated almost all of Europe, and its influence extended for centuries. The secret of its lasting popularity and audience appeal lay in its masks—the characters, each easily recognisable in the smallest village as well as the grandest city. The same characters would find themselves swept up in ever-new whirlwinds of passions and local concerns, creating a captivating blend of music, dance and wit. Commedia dell’arte also made its way to Lithuania—though, truth be told, several centuries late. A master of the genre and, we can safely say, Carlo Gozzi’s local counterpart in Lithuania, director Aidas Giniotis, will introduce audiences in our country to the fifth commedia dell’arte play! True to the finest traditions of the genre, C. Gozzi’s “The Turquoise Monster” is a vivid, passionate, magical and hopeful tragicomedy, plunging into a whirlpool of love and revenge, deceit and miracles, brought vividly to life by improvising actors. The story unfolds in the mystical city of Nanking; it could take place anywhere in the world, yet nowhere else quite like here. The events that befall its characters are universally recognisable and true to life, yet at the same time so untamed and magical that boredom will find no place in the auditorium. “The Turquoise Monster” and its masked characters invite us to take an especially important step today: to see what lies deep within. This is an allegorical story about the everyday masks that imprison our authenticity and sense of self, a call to resist the allure of physical bodies and glossy covers, and instead to see what becomes visible when we close our eyes and open our hearts.