OKT/Vilnius City Theatre "Othello" (Director Oskaras Koršunovas)

The “Midsummer Vilnius’24” stage arts festival invites you to experience a contemporary theater performance in the Grand Courtyard of the Royal Palace, under the open summer sky. 
 

On July 22nd, guests will have a special opportunity to witness the critically acclaimed performance of “Othello” by director Oskaras Koršunovas and his OKT/ Vilnius City Theatre. The play is based on the work of the British classic William Shakespeare. 
 

For the first time, this performance will take place on an outdoor stage, providing an opportunity to enjoy it when theater doors are typically closed for summer holidays.
 

“Othello” is one of the finest and most frequently staged strategies written by the author around 1603. At its heart lies a drama and interracial marriage, beginning with the love and admiration between the exotic Moor Othello and the Venetian lady Desdemona, ultimately culminating in a harrowing tale of jealousy, rage, violence and death.
 

In Shakespeare’s time, the union of Othello and Desdemona, disregarding racial differences and other divides, could be called as an entirely unconventional family. In present-day Lithuania, we particularly resonate with the clash between the ‘traditional family’ and the non-traditional family, social gender, and similar matters. Essentially, it’s the collision of the traditional and the new worlds, an ongoing theme in Europe since the Middle Ages, echoed in Shakespeare’s tragedies. This dilemma is one of the reasons why Othello is portrayed by a dark-skinned woman. It provides us with a tangible understanding of the traditional boundaries that Desdemona crosses,” says director Oskaras Koršunovas about the play.
 

The director firmly believes that productions of classical works should not be contemporary or “trendy” but rather timeless, anticipating and warning, surpassing the confines of time.
 

“I don’t believe that it’s possible to stage “Othello” in a traditional manner nowadays, because the “traditional” approach to productions of “Othello” is now entangled with unacceptable racist, colonialist, and patriarchal biases. This bias completely distances us from the true essence of Shakespeare’s “Othello”, and its essence, like in all other Shakespearean tragedies, lies in the intersection of traditional and modern worlds.

Performance duration: 3 hours and 40 minutes. 
 

Audience members aged 16 and above are cordially invited to attend.
 

Artistic Team:
 

Set Design: Oskaras Koršunovas, Julija Skuratova 

Costume Design: Julija Skuratova 

Music: Antanas Jasenka 

Video Art: Artis Dzerve 

Guitar Improvisations: Džiugas Gvozdzinskas 

Choreography: Vesta Grabštaitė 

Lighting Design: Eugenijus Sabaliauskas 

Assistant Director: Jokūbas Brazys

Literary Consultant: Kasparas Pocius 

Technical Director: Mindaugas Repšys 

Sound Design: Ignas Juzokas, Edvardas Kašincevas 

Props and Costumes: Laura Aurylaitė 

Company Manager: Malvina Matickienė 

Titles: Aurimas Minsevičius 

Foreign Tour Manager: Audra Žukaitytė

Cast: Oneida Kunsunga-Vildžiūnienė, Digna Kulionytė, Saulius

Ambrozaitis, Sofija Gedgaudaitė, Karolis Norvilas, Miglė Navasaitytė, Gerda

Čiuraitė, Džiugas Gvozdzinskas, Aurelijus Pocius, Džiugas Grinys, Domantas Starkauskas
 

Premiered on July 19, 2021.