JOURNEY TO ANOTHER FOREST. Table Theatre (Lithuania)

Inspired by Issa Watanabe’s wordless book ‘Migrants’

Scriptwriter, director, performer: Saulė Degutytė
Composer, performer: Jausmė Elena Stonkutė
Costume designer: Paulina Simutytė
Performers: Andžela Vitauskaitė and Rimantas Šiekštelė
Partner: Publishing house ‘Aukso žuvys’
Sponsor: Lithuanian Council for Culture
Photos by: Laura Vansevičienė, Lukas Varanauskas and from personal archives
The performance uses Issa Watanabe’s drawings

Premiere: October 6, 2023

An audiovisual performance inspired by Issa Watanabe’s wordless book ‘Migrants’, in which we speak to the audience on a sensitive topic – the loss of home.  

What is home to us? Whether it’s a forest, an ocean or an apartment building, home is a place where one should feel safe, peaceful and warm, where we can return after a day’s work and watch TV, play a game, do homework or just stare at the ceiling with our bellies warmed by soup.

In this audiovisual journey we explore the very concept of home – how important it is to us? What forces us to leave it? How do we behave when this happens? Do we share our bite with a hungry wolf or giraffe migrating to another forest? Do we sing a lullaby to our neighbors goslings?

How do we feel when we arrive at the new forest and how important is community and unity in this journey? We invite you to experience this meditative shadow performance, in which various objects ‘perform’ live on three screens, accompanied by live music and songs in a made up language. The visuals and sounds will captivate the attention of both young and older viewers.

Table Theatre is a unique object and puppet theatre that has been creating performances for children and young adults for 20 years. During these years, the theatre has grown into a professional creative team with a distinctive, recognizable style, constantly looking for new forms and means of expression. The theatre creates performances for audiences of various ages, tastes and abilities, dedicating most of its productions to children and youth. 

Over two decades, Table Theatre has created more than 30 performances, including theatrical Lithuanian fairy tales and myths, scenic portrayals of prominent Lithuanian personalities’ lives and works, performances on relevant, complex topics, and book visualizations. For its performances, the theatre has won two Golden Stage Crosses (in 2011 and 2014) in the puppet and object theatre category and has been nominated for this award several times.

Saulė Degutytė is a creator in a constant search for a distinctive theatrical style. She is the founder and leader of Table Theatre, which since 2004 has become her home for creativity and implementing ideas. Over two decades, without having a permanent shelter, S. Degutytė with a small team of professionals has created more than 30 performances, showing them in various places: theatres, schools, museums and public spaces.

Her performances are distinguished by things and objects coming to life on stage, acquiring the faces and voices of characters. Special attention is also paid to Lithuanian ethnoculture, encouraging creativity and promoting audience involvement in the action. Live music often sounds in the theatre, becoming a character of its own, expanding possibilities of artistic expression and strengthening the connection with the audience.