"My actors are not going to sweat. There will be no beads of perspiration running down their foreheads. I can't stand that. … I want everything to be elegant in the theatre. Profound, but simple," Rimas Tuminas said in 1989. „Negaliu aš dabar numirt“, Laimos Žemulienės pokalbis su Rimu Tuminu, Komjaunimo tiesa, 1989-10-21, p. 2.
This feeling for graceful lightness permeated the director's first productions: The Winter by Yordan Radichkov (1978) and Georges Schehadé's L'Emigré de Brisbane (The Emigrant from Brisbane) in 1980. These stood out amid the conservative and conformist repertoire of the Academic Drama Theatre, and clearly stood apart from the stage interests of Nekrošius and Vaitkus with their intimacy, their simple (albeit somewhat strange) characters, a gentle irony, subtle humor, and a cozy benevolence. They inspired and gave creative strength to the actors of this theatre who "over many years in the monumental historic productions of Henrikas Vancevičius, dressed in ancient Lithuanian military uniforms, mustachioed and bearded, were perpetually standing in the dark crowd of extras". Irena Aleksaitė, „Valstybinis akademinis dramos teatras“, in Lietuvių teatro istorija, Kn. 4: 1980–1990, sudarė Irena Aleksaitė, Vilnius: Kultūros, filosofijos ir meno institutas, 2009, p. 50.
Tuminas only became the focus of greater attention in 1982 with the staging of Variations of the Fairy Drage by Andrej Kuternicky — four sensitive stories of the loneliness and longing of the residents of a communal apartment (artistic design by Augis Kepežinskas, composition by Faustas Latėnas). Critics wrote approvingly that, in these stories, Tuminas had continued "the best traditions of psychological theatre", Rūta Vanagaitė, „Ne kutenti, ne liūliuoti“, Literatūra ir menas, 1982-10-23, p. 12. but that he had also imbued them with a unique modernity, poetry and impressionism, carefully examining the nuances of the characters' psychological state of mind, producing an unforced, natural expression on stage but also preserving a mystery and the impression that not everything had been disclosed, enveloping the action on stage in a rich, suggestive atmosphere.
Variations of the Fairy Drage revealed Tuminas' ability to work and find common language with actors of several generations: the play featured not only veterans of the Academic Drama Theatre such as Algirdas Zalanskas (Neighbor), Stefa Nosevičiūtė (Neighbor), and Arnas Rosenas (Drunk Plumber), but also the "middle generation" that included Aldona Janušauskaitė (Woman from Apartment Five), Romualdas Ramanauskas (He), and the youngest actor, Rasa Kirkilionytė (She).
In truth, later productions directed by Tuminas — whether modern classics (Cat On a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams, 1983); national dramas (Romualdas Lankauskas' Svečiai atvyksta prieš perkūniją, arba Sausainiai su gvazdikėliais (The Guests Arrive Before the Storm, or Biscuits with Cloves) in 1985); or by Soviet playwrights of the day (Kuternicky's As If We Were Strangers in 1985 and Aleksander Galin's Once More Where the Sea of Lights Lies (Jeane) in 1986 — silenced somewhat the enthusiasm drummed up by Fairy Drage. Indeed, in the context of the active directing of the 1980s – and the work of Nekrošius and Vaitkus in particular – Tuminas' commitment to revive the psychological traditions of a more intimate theatre appeared restrained.
But Tuminas was preparing himself. Quietly, but gradually more perceptibly, he gathered together a circle of likeminded people with whom he won over the Small Stage and transformed it into a lively place for artistic pursuits that ran counter to the creative routine of the rest of the Academic Drama Theatre.
Tuminas' debut on the Small Stage of the Academic Drama Theatre occurred in 1984 with Harold Müller's Silent Night, which featured Monika Mironaitė (1913-2000) and Mykolas Smagarauskas (1935-1992). A considerable fight had to be waged for the right to this debut, as Tuminas himself recounts: the theatre leadership looked askance upon "my determination to hole myself up in the Small Theatre and create my laboratory there," and "when the danger arose of them closing us down I began to get clever and I staged a play there starring Mironaitė. If not for Mironaitė's husband — Juozas Baltušis, a member of the LSSR Supreme Soviet – they would never have permitted it". Ramunė Balevičiūtė, Rimas Tuminas: teatras, tikresnis už gyvenimą, Vilnius: Metodika, 2012, p. 73.
|
Read more: Juozas Baltušis.
|
Comments
Write a comment