International Performance Competition IDea 2022
Call for proposals till October 1st
National Kaunas Drama Theatre
Call for Proposals!
The 5th International performance competition IDea held by National Kaunas Drama Theatre, in Kaunas, Lithuania calls for contemporary, innovative and original concepts for a stage production from professional theatre producers, stage directors, or performance artists currently at the starting point of their artistic careers. The winner of the competition will be awarded with the opportunity to use the financial (up to 30,000 EUR), technical and human resources in order to turn the idea into an actual performance in National Kaunas Drama Theatre with the actors from the company of this theatre.
The ideas for production may be a staging of a classical or contemporary literary text or a devised, verbatim, documentary, participatory piece as well as physical, visual, interactive, or intermedia performance. There are no limitations as for genre, method or style of the proposed production however we encourage innovative cutting-edge artistic concepts that have already been developed up to the point of pre-production.
In the spirit of solidarity and willingness to sustain the links of our cultures and democracies through cooperation, we will give our preference in this year’s competition to the projects from Ukrainian artists.
The proposal application should include a general description of the idea of the performance, an explication of the innovative elements, intended audience, technical infrastructure needed for the staging as well as a preliminary financial account (see the Application form 2022). The deadline for applications is October 1, 2022.
The competition will be accomplished in two stages. First, the proposals will be evaluated by a special committee of theatre experts (see below), based on the artistic quality, originality, and innovation of the idea, the degree of its development as well as reasonable financial plan and conformity with the capacities of National Kaunas Drama Theatre (you can find information about theatre here: https://dramosteatras.lt/en/theatre/stages/ ) The winner proposals will be announced on October 31, 2022. The comments or evaluations on each project will not be presented.
Second, the winners of the first stage will be contacted to schedule an online meeting with the artistic director, producers and managers of National Kaunas Drama Theatre to develop their idea in detail, including display of visual or recorded material, reading of a play or other related presentations as well as discuss and negotiate the terms of staging the production in the theatre. The online meetings will be scheduled for the period from November 3 to December 2, 2022. And the final decision on the winner of the competition will be announced on December 16, 2022.
The winner will further develop the project in cooperation with the managers and creative team of Kaunas National Drama Theatre. The premiere of the performance will take place in the National Kaunas Drama Theatre in the Spring season 2023.
Complete this form until October 1, 11.59 p.m. Eastern European Time
The form should be filled in English.
A special committee of theatre experts
Rūta Mažeikienė is a researcher and professor in theatre studies at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas. She has published academic research and criticism across the fields of drama, acting, postdramatic theatre, contemporary dance, community-based theatre practices, etc., and has participated as an expert in numerous international festival juries and boards.
Deimantė Dementavičiūtė-Stankuvienė is a prolific theatre/dance/film critic and cultural journalist, also doing academic research and expertise in theatre festivals and theatre awards juries.
Lukas Alsys is an actor, writer, cultural producer and a PhD student of theatre history. At the moment he is taking the position of regional partnership curator in Kaunas European Capital of Culture 2022.
