R. Wilson, on starting rehearsals for “Dorian”: The most important thing is to listen, concentrate and enjoy the process
On the 1st and 2nd of October, the Big Stage will host the highlight of the National Kaunas Drama Theater and Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022 programme – Robert Wilson’s premiere “Dorian” based on a play by D. Pinckney. On the 14th of September, Robert Wilson arrived at the NKDT’s Main Stage, taking over the directorial helm from co-director Ann-Christin Rommen and assistant director Robert Zeigermann, who successfully started the process of the play.
After a warm greeting with the CEO of the Theatre Egidijus Stancikas, the director invited all the services and all the co-creators of the performance, to the Big Stage to meet each of them in person. “It’s great to see everyone and I want to say that everyone is equally important in the process. It’s all about the ensemble and listening to each other, wherever you are – backstage or on stage. We must be whole in order to create a special piece, no matter what kind of work we do. It requires a lot of concentration. The second thing is to enjoy the process. That’s why we are in the theatre; we create the costumes and sets, and if we are enjoying it, that’s the who point of what we do,” said the director. Robert Wilson then worked with lighting designer Marcello Lumaca to coordinate the lights for the show, as light is one of the most important components in the artist’s productions.
Partners of the premiere: the National Kaunas Drama Theatre, “Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022”, D’haus Theatre from Düsseldorf (Germany) and “EDM”. The production is supported by the Goethes Institute and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Lithuania.
The visual and dramaturgical narrative of the play is interwoven from the life of the writer Oscar Wilde, his character Dorian Gray and the painter Francis Bacon, starting on the 1st of October. On the Big Stage of the National Kaunas Drama Theater.
NKDT information
CEO of the Theatre Egidijus Stancikas and the director Robert Wilson
Lighting designer Marcello Lumaca
Robert Wilson meeting with the team
On the way to the premiere
Photo by Gražvydas Jovaiša