Directed by: Artūras Areima

Set Design by: Oles Makukhin

Costume Design by: Valdemara Jasulaitytė

Video Design by: Kristijonas Dirsė

Lighting Design by: Julius Kuršys

Composer: π (Monika Poderytė)

Instrumentalis: Julius Bučinskas

Stage Manager: Nadežda Pereverzeva

Translated from Swedish into Lithuanian by Zita Mažeikaitė

Director Artūras Areima’s production, based on Per Olov Enquist’s play The Hour of the Lynx (I lodjurets timma), is a soul-moving drama that explores madness, faith as well as human nature and potential, delving into the psyche and subconscious of a person.

The central theme of the performance revolves around the blurred boundaries between sanity and madness, normality and the social fringe. The director contemplates when and how the crucial breaking point occurs, leading a person to surrender to cruelty, crime, or insanity. The intention is clearly to analyse the nature of crime, the origins of mental disorders, to allow the audience to reconsider their convictions and fears, while fostering dialogue.

The Hour of the Lynx tells the story of a young man who finds himself in a psychiatric hospital, in a ward for critically ill patients. The protagonist shares with a young doctor the story of his childhood and complicated life. A research team conducts an experiment with the patients in this ward, allowing some of them to take care for pets. The protagonist learns that the experiment is being terminated, and that his best friend, a cat, will be taken away from him.

What does it mean to grow up in a family without love, and how does this affect the psychological state of a young person? How do the lack of love and rejection manifest as a child grows up? To what extent are we, as a society, responsible for crimes, and can we recognise the critical moment before disaster strikes?

The Hour of the Lynx offers a unique perspective that encourages empathy and understanding. The performance is dreamlike, surreal and mystical in its form. The director aims to bring back the playfulness of dreams and fantasy to the theatre, offering an escape from reality.

Per Olov Enquist (1934–2020) was one of the most renowned Swedish authors and playwrights, a laureate of many prestigious awards. He made his theatre debut in 1975 with the drama The Night of the Tribades, followed by several significant plays. One of them, The Hour of the Lynx (1998), achieved worldwide recognition and has been widely staged. A film adaptation of the play was directed by Søren Kragh-Jacobsen in 2013.

Artūras Areima is one of the most interesting theatre artists of the younger generation in Lithuania. His works constantly provoke discussions among critics and audiences, and have repeatedly received the highest praise from professional assessors of performing arts.

Theatrical agency Nordic Drama Corner

The project is partly funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture

The performance “Lynx Hour” explores the experience of suicide, which may be sensitive for some audience members. Suicide is not a solution. The characters and the artistic reality depicted in the play are fictional and do not reflect the current mental health care system or the principles of support for those in distress.

Vilnius Old Theatre and the creative team of the performance encourage you not to remain indifferent—seek help for yourself or your loved ones: +370 800 28 888 Jaunimo linija  (Youth Line), 116 123 Vilties linija  (Hope Line).

Warning! The performance contains loud sounds, smoke and bright flashes of light. During the performance actors smoke.

Performed in Lithuanian with English and Russian captions. If you want to see the captions clearly, we recommend choosing seats in the stalls from the 7th row.

Photos by: Telman Ragimov

Cast:

Boy – Saulius Ambrozaitis

Lisbeth – Eglė Špokaitė

Priest – Eglė Grigaliūnaitė

Cat, Woman, Knud, Director – Maksim Tuchvatulin

Grandfather, Oscar, Security Guard, Eriksen, Employee – Artūras Aleksejevas