The festival “Island of Feelings” does not lose its relevance even with the change of generations

2023-04-28 08:46:13

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On April 22-23, the children’s and youth theater festival “Island of Feelings” was held for the 23rd time in the Birštonas cultural center. The bustling youth on the opening day of the festival proved once again that the event, which is already in its third decade, does not lose its relevance even as the generations grow.

The Kaunas State Puppet Theater opened the festival by bringing the performance “I am Romeo, you are Juliet” to Birštonas.

Last weekend, young actors and performers came from: Vilnius, Kaunas, Jurbarkas, Ukmergė, Kretinga, Rokiškis, Punskas, Palanga and, of course, Birštonas to show themselves and look at others. In total, over two days, the organizers of the festival and the young actors presented the audience with 7 exceptional performances intended for the young audience, and in the evenings, the participants were treated to concerts by Gediminas and Ainios Storpirščiai and the Birštonas youth music group “Stotis”.
Opening the festival, the actors of the Kaunas State Puppet Theater presented to the audience the Shakespearean tragedy “I am Romeo, you are Juliet” (director Rokas Lažaunykas), interwoven with elements of comedy, which, it turns out, can be relevant even nowadays, when on one sunny summer weekend the Shakespearean tragedy moves to a family camp in the forest, and here a real emotional drama is “set up”.

Festival organizer, Birštonas Cultural Center Youth Studio director Rimantas Jacunskas and presenter Kastytis.

Although the festival started with a serious and at the same time witty play for teenagers, the little ones were not forgotten either, because the Noble Puppet Theater “ČIZ” of the Rokiškis Cultural Center invited the youngest audience members of the festival to tie the knot of “Three Fairy Tales” (director Nijolė Čirūnienė) and a little later to watch “Little Class” ” (director Irena Matelienė).
Thus, throughout the first day of the festival, the play changed the play, and in the afternoon, guests from the youth theater “Kregždė” of the Lithuanian House of Culture in Punsk, who came to Birštonas with the play “Vėlinės” (directed by Jolanta Malinauskaitė-Vektorienė) based on the work of Adam Mickevičius, appeared on stage. the actors of the youth theater studio “Nykštukas” of the Ukmergė cultural center appeared, performing “Game without rules” (director Tamara Kvieskienė) and the youth theater “Rainbow” of the Jurbarka cultural center with the performance “Escape to the Acropolis” (director Birutė Šneiderienė).
The second day of the festival was less intense, but no less meaningful and inspiring, because on Sunday the youth theater of the Kretinga district cultural center “Atžalynas” brought to Birštonas the magical performance “Stormy night” (directed by Auksė Antulienė) based on the sketchbook of the Canadian creator Michele Lemieux. the action revolves around a mysterious girl and the world of her imagination.
On the days of the festival, young people or families with small children who visited the Birštonas culture and leisure center could develop their creativity and imagination not only by immersing themselves in the plots of theatrical performances, but also by participating in various activities. The little ones could test the dexterity of their hands In the education prepared by the Birštonas School of Art “Magic of clay: small hands – big works”, the older ones were invited to participate in the educational training of the Applied Theater Troupe “4 ROOMS”.
Interviewed after the event, the organizer of the festival, the director of the Youth Theater Studio of the Birštonas Cultural Center, Rimantas Jacunskas, was happy with the activity and professionalism of the actors and performers, but at the same time regretted that after the restrictions of the pandemic, the young audience has to be reacquainted with cultural spaces.

Rimantė Jančauskaitė