The Lesya Ukrainka National Academic Drama Theatre will tour Lithuania with the play Zemlya (The Land), based on the work of Olha Kobylyanska and directed by Ivan Uryvskyy. The performance will take place on 2 October at the National Drama Theatre in Kaunas.
This was reported on Radio Kultura by Kyrylo Kashlikov, artistic director of the Ukrainian theatre. He emphasised that entering the international stage in the fourth year of full-scale war is particularly important, as it demonstrates that “we are a separate state with our own culture.” If at the beginning of the invasion the main task was to show the world that Ukrainians exist and are fighting, now it is to show that they are creating high-quality and competitive artistic products.
The tour was made possible thanks to the initiative of Egidijus Stancikas, director of the National Drama Theatre in Kaunas. At the beginning of the war, he invited a Ukrainian director to stage a play based on a Ukrainian work at his theatre. This led to the production of Zemlya, which was later added to the repertoire of the Lesya Ukrainka Theatre.
As Stancikas said in a comment for Suspilne Culture, the Lithuanian actors will also perform this play the day after the Ukrainian troupe’s performance. He recalled that even before the premiere in Kyiv, the theatre company in Kaunas created short video messages in support of the production.