The games people play

Eastern Europe is now not only a major spot for tourism but also a source of great creativity. Over the last decade, I have watched many memorable dance and theatre works by Eastern European artists at various festivals and thus was delighted to hear that Lithuanian playwright Sigitas Parulskis’ “The Never Ending Loneliness for Two” was being staged here in Bangkok. 

“I read the play for the first time about five years ago and I probably pick it up again every year. Every time I find a new meaning in the text in addition to questions arising from it. Maybe the core of the play, the relationship between men and women, has become more personal for me as well,” says the director Egle Simkeviciute Kulvelis, a Lithuanian who lives in Bangkok.

“The dialogue is taken from the inner thoughts and internal monologues of five different couples in five different stages of their relationships. I think it’s good for any country at any moment because relationships are very open and very complicated. Audiences will find something, if not in one scene then the next, that’s directly related to them,” she says.

In one scene, Kulvelis adds, a couple meets in a train. They don’t know each other, exchange only a few words yet feel a strong connection. 

 It’s like they can read each other’s minds and while there’s passion, there’s also the realisation that this encounter might be the only time they ever meet.

 “I invited a few actors to read the play and to play with the material to see what would happen. As we rehearsed, we found more issues and messages we could recognise from our own experiences as well as connection points, no matter how symbolic or abstract, between the five scenes.”

Thai actress Pattarasuda Anuman Rajadhon last seen in Nophand Boonyai’s “Utopian Malady”, and British actor James Laver who last month performed in Peel the Limelights’ “Bent”, will portray all five couples backed by a group of Thai supporting actors.

“What I studied in Lithuania is similar to what Pattarasuda and James did in the UK. We speak the same language. A Lithuanian friend of mine suggested that I should maybe introduce some Lithuanian background for the actors and the audience. This was very surprising, as I hadn’t thought about it before. But the answer was ‘No’ – they didn’t have any problem understanding it at all.”

The Thai actress concurs, “It’s a very subtle, deep and multi-layered play”, while the British actor adds, “All the scenes take place in a little bubble and it could be anywhere. It doesn’t follow the traditional dramatic structure but instead shows slices of life – in this case, critical moments in relationship. It asks the audience to think about its meaning without drawing any specific conclusion.”

 

FIVE COUPLES

“The Never Ending Loneliness for Two” runs from June 20 to 22 on a rooftop of Spanish on 4, a restaurant on Soi Silom 4, and from June 27 to 29 at Toot Yung Art Centre on Ekamai Soi 2.

Tickets are Bt400 (inclusive of one drink). Call (088) 963 6260 or search on Facebook events for “The Never Ending Loneliness for Two”.