From September 23 to October 5, the Kaunas City Chamber Theater will host the 10th International Youth Theater Festival “Starting Point.” Having begun a decade ago as a small gathering of young creators and their audience, the festival now brings together artists from various fields, theater professionals, and young people seeking authentic, vibrant art that speaks to them—their experiences, their courage to grow and change. This year’s program is exceptionally diverse: audiences can look forward to performances, presentations of performance sketches, creative workshops, slam poetry performances, and a closing concert.
The Start of the Festival—An Invitation to Dream Boldly
“Ten years ago, we didn’t have a theater in Kaunas dedicated to teenagers and young people, even though there was no shortage of creative young people in the city back then. Encouraging young artists to create for their peers and to hear the voices of a young audience—that was the initial impetus for the creation of this new festival,” says Jurga Knyvienė, director of the Kaunas City Chamber Theater, recalling the circumstances surrounding the creation of “Išeities taškas.”
The festival will open on September 23 with the premiere of “Icarus,” a performance for children ages 10 and up by contemporary circus artist Džiugas Kunsmans. Based on the ancient myth, the production explores humanity’s quest to achieve the impossible and recalls early attempts at flight. Having won the festival’s concept sketch competition a year ago, “Icarus” returns to the stage to spread its wings to their fullest.
Sketch Contest – A Space for Ideas to Grow
The sketch competition, taking place on September 24–25, will feature four works that explore the paradoxes of our time, social conflicts, and the fragility of emotions. The sketch “Monstera” (dir. Orestas Razumas) explores ecology through the metaphor of a plant and invites us to reconsider what a healthy ecosystem truly is. “A Whale on the Shore” (dir. Aistė Rekašiūtė) tells the story of a generation that grew up caught between the ideals of independence and the emotional legacy of the Soviet era. The sketch “This Child” (dir. Aivaras Micius) raises questions about the clash of generations and the cycle of social and emotional problems, while “Playground Scars” (dir. Vaidas Jaruševičius) uses humor to address the scars left by long-term relationships and the complex process of healing them.
“The sketch competition is always a big surprise for me—it’s fun to watch how the ideas of young creators, written down on paper, come to life on stage. The festival is wonderful also because it has become a real starting point for many young artists. Many of them, having started with sketch creation or graduation productions, are now creating works at Lithuania’s major theaters and have won awards. “So, the festival is a great platform for young creators, opening the door to the professional stage,” says Indrė Brasevičiūtė, one of the festival’s program curators.
In International Experiments: Light and the Body
As is the case every year, part of the festival program consists of performances by international guests. This time, on September 26, the theater will host a troupe from the Czech Republic—the “Musaši Entertainment Company”—which will present the experimental puppet show “Essay on Light.” It is an audiovisual essay on technology and the role of light in human life—from primitive fire to optical cables. On October 4–5, audiences are invited to the interdisciplinary performance “Objectravelling” (by Mara Ingea), in which object manipulation, exploration of space, and a creative perspective combine art with political, poetic, and social themes.
For Young People: A Mirror of Reality on Stage
“The name of the ‘Starting Point’ festival signifies a beginning—both for young theater audiences, as they are introduced for the first time to a theater that is no longer childish but has not yet become rigid, a theater still searching for its identity, and for young artists, as they have their first encounters with an audience of their own age outside the walls of the academy or university, their first steps on the professional stage,” notes J. Knyvienė, director of the Kaunas City Chamber Theater.
On September 27–28, the play “Peter Pan” (directed by Karolis Zajauskas) will be performed—a fairy tale for adults about the threat of time and the fragility of love. The concept for this play won the festival’s sketch competition back in 2023. This reflection on youthful emotions will be continued by the play “Almost Happy” (directed by Justas Tertelis), based on Jurgis Kunčinas’s novel “Tūla,” which explores the themes of youthful love and self-discovery. On October 1, the dance performance “Match 3” (choreographed by Vilma Pitrinaitė) will take the stage, in which three dancers explore the interactions between humans and machines through the Turing test—examining when an algorithm can imitate human speech and when the body becomes the most human form of technology.
On October 2, the stage will feature the play “Quietly, Quietly” (directed by Ieva Tamoševičiūtė), which explores the theme of silence as an expression of an inner crisis—a sensitive and minimalist work that addresses mental health, the fear of intimacy, and the desire to be heard. That same evening, the KTU theater studio “44” will present Martin McDonagh’s black comedy “The One-Armed Man from Spokane” (directed by Donatas Laurinavičius).
On October 3, students from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater will present Sławomir Mrożek’s tragicomedy *The Widows* (directed by Kamilė Maksvytytė), which explores the connection between love and death, and on October 4, the feminist and absurdly sincere play *Broken Heart Story* (directed by Rasa Kurlinkutė)—a story about a writer, her soul, and a world full of advertising, men, and heartache.
Creative Workshop: Word – Scene – Connection
On September 27, there will be a stand-up comedy workshop with Evaldas Jasaitis, where participants will get an inside look at this “street” genre. On September 29, an improvisational rap workshop with Pijus Opera will invite participants to test their skills—they’ll be encouraged to discover how words are born on the spot, from rhythm and emotion. And on September 30, the slam at the Kaunas Artists’ House will become a battleground for the spoken word—just the text, the voice, and the audience’s judgment.
“The high level of interest among young people in slam, comedy, and rap has prompted us to integrate these art forms into the festival’s 2025 educational program. The workshops offer an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of contemporary artistic languages and hone skills alongside professionals who are well-versed in the nuances of these genres. “The Kaunas City Chamber Theater is not afraid to experiment and push the boundaries of theater, so these workshops are a natural part of our quest to renew and grow,” says Erika Viselgė, the creator of the festival’s educational program.
The festival will close with sounds of experimental music
The festival will close on October 5 with an audiovisual concert by the band “lazy diamond’s underground”—marking the release of their second album, “Lingua.” “Lingua” is like a journey through different cultures, eras, and traditions, all united by a cohesive stylization of atmospheric music that seems to encapsulate the essence of all this diversity—a human being made of carbon.
The festival, organized by the Kaunas City Chamber Theater with funding from the Kaunas City Municipality and the Lithuanian Council for Culture, will take place at various venues in Kaunas from September 23 to October 5.
