The play Panic directed by Kamilė Gudmonaitė, based on the dramatical piece Panic by Mika Myllyaho, a contemporary Finnish playwright. The play invites the spectators to step into a provocative and realistic urban universe where contemporary men go through real and imaginary crises. This intelligent and incisive comedy tells the story of three friends who are trying to cope with their lives. Following eastern practices and adhering to psychotherapy principles, the men embark on an absurd, comical, and intense journey of self-cognition, revealing the problematics of masculinity as a social stamp. What are the challenges faced by men today? What do society and family expect of them? What are the requirements imposed on them by this era? What neuroses lurk behind the exterior of a cool and domineering breadwinner? Director Kamilė Gudmonaitė challenges the “normalcy” stereotypes produced by society and presents a slightly absurd comedy, which nonetheless discloses considerable tensions of contemporary social life.

“Although Mika Myllyaho emphasizes that the play analyzes issues of masculinity, I am convinced that inner crises have no gender: the three characters are people of our time who, despite successful careers, recognition, and ‘normal’ family relationships, nevertheless confront psychological problems, which they feverishly attempt to solve through meditation, psychotherapy, sports, and other practices. They do not know how to talk, how to name their feelings; in the words of one of the characters, they are ‘wading through the swamp of masculinity and running all their lives—from themselves, from their feelings, and their eyes gradually become veiled with sadness.’ The performance also addresses mental health, bringing together Eastern philosophy and the reality of the Western world, and searches for freedom—from the mind, from psychological problems, even from the constant attempt to ‘heal something,’” lists director Kamilė Gudmonaitė.

Opening – December 18, 19, and 20, 2019