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arranged in a perfect order with unhuman precision. We speak about a masterpiece - thus we are free to consider where in the Lithuanian "Hamlet" genius confronts madness. To what degree the world we are watching or its demiurg is crazy? Lukasz Drewniak, Poland EIMUNTAS NEKROŠIUS Eimuntas Nekrošius, born in 1952. Director and actor. Lunacharscki Institute of Theatre Art in Moscow graduate (1978). in 1978 - 1979 director of the State Youth Theatre, Vilnius. In 1979 - 1980 he worked at Kaunas Drama Theatre. Since 1980 - again at State Youth Theatre in Vilnius, where he has put on the following productions: "A Square" by Yeliseyeva (1981), "Love and Death in Verona" by Antinelis and Geda (1982) "The Day Lasts Longer Than a Hundred Years" by Aitmatov (1983) "Uncle Vanya" by Chekhov (1986), "The Nose" by Gogol (1991). All Nekrošius' productions were awarded the diplomas of theatre festivals in Lithuania and Baltic States. They have successfully participated in many international theatre festivals. Nekrošius was a prize winner of numerous state awards in the field of Arts. Since 1991 Nekrošius works as a resident director in Lithuanian international Theatre Festival LIFE. His performances produced by LIFE festival include "Mozart and Salieri. Don Juan. Plague" by Pushkin (1994), "Three Sisters" by Chekhov (1995), rock-opera "Love and Death in Verona" based on "Romeo and Juliet" by Shakespeare (1996), participating in numerous international theatre festivals. In 1994 he receives a special prize of Lithuanian Theatre Union as the best director of the year and Award of the Baltic Assembly for "Mozart and Salieri. Don Juan. Plague" as the best work in the Baltics. The same year European Theatre Union and Taormina Arts Committee (Italy) awards Eimuntas Nekrošius a Prize for the New European Theatre Realities. The Premio Übu 1996, the most important theatre award in Italy, for the best foreign performance staged in Italy during last season, has been assigned to "Three Sisters". NEKROŠIUS' HAMLET Let there be no question about it, William Shakespeare, Grand Master of the English language,staged in a foreign tongue may not exactly be everyone's cup of tea, far less this one-of-a-kind adaptation. 1 consider myself fortunate to have been primed in advance by three Toronto reviews (two vehemently negative and one coolly average at best) and a lengthy conversation with Hamlet himself (Andrius Mamontovas), which all helped me brace myself before giving witness to this theatrical tour de force. Many heated questions and emotions are raised by this laborious performance and so few are relieved in the end: that is, if you are lacking fundamental background to the "Lithuanian modus operandi," as I call it. To fully appreciate a Lithuanian version of Hamlet, particularly Nekrosius', one must perhaps first try to see the world through the eyes of a Lithuanian. Lying dead-center Europe, the modest country of Lithuania has been a strategic location for many a war and the often-brutal advancement of empires from Napoleon in the 1800's to Hitler and Stalin in the 1900's. Before Christianity or Communism ever came knocking on their doors, the vast majority of Lithuanians farmed, lived in small villages and was a very nature-oriented people. Their ancient spiritual concepts consisted of the belief that everything was of God and God was of everything. In other

words, God does not exist on a separate heavenly plane, but rather on this plane, in the wind, the water and the trees-even in people. And much of these spiritual concepts are prevalent in today's Lithuanian music,art and literature, and unquestionably in this variation of Hamlet. Perhaps this begins to explain why the stage becomes such the dumping ground for these earthly elements, referring of course to the mess of the water, ice, fire and ashes introduced to the stage throughout the evening. Other questions pertain to Nekrosius' use of "symbols," that clearly could in no way have ever been intended by the late poet, our friend Shakespeare. But try first to drop ail western notions of symbolic meaning in order to tackle this. Take away reference to anything at all and look at these props and innuendos again from a different perspective. According to ancient Lithuanian theological tradition, if God is prevalent in everything, then so too must meaning be, God being the underlying meaning of everything. And if meaning can be found in anything, then no one meaning could ever suffice a given "symbol." So the large saw-blade hanging above the stage means nothing: it was probably never intended to, and therefore the director need not reveal its significance. It has no significance. What the prop does do, on the other hand, is serve as a theatrical focal point for anything pertaining to the ghost of Hamlet's father, death, heaven, hell or anything of a spiritual nature. A second thing it does, as with each of Nekrosius' "symbols," is trigger an emo-