New representations : the languages of contemporary Lithuanian theatre

Abstract

In recent decades, Lithuanian theatre has experienced a lot of changes, especially in the most important elements of theatrical performance: the text, the actor and the spectator. In this article, several emerging themes in contemporary Lithuanian theatre will be analyzed, with special attention to recent developments that can be conceptualized in the frame of postmodern and post structural theory. Extensive debates about the influence of poststructuralism in the performing arts are still taking place in theatre criticism, focusing mainly on the transformation of the theatre from a marginal art form to a cultural metaphor, widely used by cultural theorists across disciplines. The question remains, though, as to how this proliferation of theatrical and performative metaphors challenges the traditional definition of "theatre" or "performance." Theatre's change of status in society, together with the theatricalization of everyday life, as well as the mediation of culture by new technologies suggest not only the redundancy of theatre in contemporary Lithuanian society, but also a considerable shift in the function of its aesthetics.