What do you think of when you think of Lithuanian theatre? If you’re anything like us, you might not know a lot about it. Vyte Garriga is a new playwright and performer who is hoping to change that, as she brings her own experiences growing up in a newly independent Lithuania to her new play Paper Swans, which will be premiering at the Edinburgh Fringe this August. The play invites audiences into a surreal world where order and fluidity encounter one another and where riddles and oppression intertwine. We asked Vyte some questions about the play and how her personal experiences have shaped her art.
The play features a security guard and a young woman trapped in a never-ending loop. Can you discuss the significance of these characters?
The Guard is control, order, reason, repetition, rules. The girl is ambiguity, emotion, fluidity, freedom.
They’re the opposite of each other but they both want to be left alone, to do what they’re used to or want to without having to justify it. However, when they become trapped in a never-ending loop, they go on a journey that questions their actions and beliefs, which could not have happened if they weren’t forced to meet again and again.
This can mean a lot of things and I like the fact that it’s ambiguous and not as straightforward as a play that follows a linear narrative. I’m more interested to hear responses from the audience and their ideas of what it means.
What inspired the recurring motif of a paper swan, and what do they symbolise?
When I started writing the play, the girl was making paper ships in the beginning (because I could only make paper ships). But it didn’t feel right. And then I realised that of course she had to be making paper swans because she was dressed as a ballet dancer - it’s a lot more delicate.
The image of the swan brings a lot of references with it: the Ugly Duckling, the Swan Lake, the fact that all the swans in the UK belong to the King etc. For me it symbolises transformation, entrapment, ownership and a fragile beauty.
How much of the play is influenced by your upbringing and background in Lithuania?
I am playing the Girl, so the Lithuanian character is already there. Nick Hart is composing the music influenced by Lithuanian folk songs, so the soundscape is also bringing my background to the piece.
However, the Lithuanian aspect is not at the forefront of the piece; it’s rather a sense that my identity offers by default: I was born in Soviet Lithuania. We got independent 9 months later, so I grew up in the country that was trying to rediscover itself after not being allowed to exist for a very long time. The remains of the oppression were very much felt all throughout my childhood: that I, as a Lithuanian, was somehow lesser than the people in the world outside; that my language was not enough; that I needed to speak in riddles in order to tell the truth. The themes of oppression, freedom of speech, and one's place in the world are definitely there. But the piece itself is first and foremost about two people trying to find a way to co-exist without having to justify themselves.
What do you want audiences to take away from this piece of theatre?
It’s not a piece that overtly tries to convey a message - I don’t write that way. When people ask me what Paper Swans is about, I tell them that it changes every day. I see it like a surrealist painting instead, where everyone will be able to see something different rather than a story that tries to make a point. But the above themes are very much there. It is also very funny.
The only thing I wouldn’t want people to feel is small or ill-equipped to understand it: there is a misconception that the theatre of the Absurd is pretentious. No. It simply doesn’t follow a linear narrative that we are used to but that is exactly why we should lean into the feelings it evokes- it is trying to shake us out from being too much in our heads, inviting us not to take ourselves too seriously and reminding us what simply being feels like.
The nature of the piece is purposefully ambiguous and open ended. What kinds of reactions and interpretations have you observed from audiences so far?
We had so many beautiful and varied responses already: some people see a love story, some- a battle between an individual and the system, some- one’s battle with mental health, a meeting between Godot and the Black Swan or a Surreal version of Swan Lake. But there is one thing that unites them all- they all said that they would watch it again and recommend it to everyone they know.
What are your aspirations for Paper Swans beyond the Fringe? Do you see it evolving in any particular direction?
I want to show it to as many people as possible, which, hopefully, would lead to a run in London and then a tour in the UK (and abroad).
I hope that the exposure at the fringe will allow me to reintroduce the genre of the Theatre of the Absurd and show that it’s still relevant today as opposed to being something dated from the past (yet I am not trying to claim the title of the XXI century female Beckett- I just want to open the door to this genre to be re-examined).
I believe that exposure at the Edinburgh Fringe will help me challenge the stereotype surrounding the East European identity as a cheap, uneducated labour force and show that we also have stories to tell. And selfishly, I hope it would help me find a way to take it to Lithuania, so my parents, grandparents and the Lithuanian theatre scene could see it. It would be an amazing opportunity to be able to start a conversation about finding ways of bringing work from the Lithuanian theatre makers living abroad to Lithuania (and beyond) as it does not exist at the moment. We are also pondering an idea to turn Paper Swans into a film, which we have started playing around with already.
Paper Swans will be performed at 11.05am in the Pleasance Courtyard (Upstairs) from the 31st July – 25th August (Not 14th)
Booking Link: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/paper-swans
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