International Students Can Enjoy Theatre in English

Important | 2017-01-18

International students, residents and visitors of Kaunas are invited to enjoy one of the most popular plays at Kaunas National Drama Theatre in English. In the beginning of February, the theatre play “Gentis” (Eng. The Tribe) with translation will be staged. 

The translation is being provided by Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) Technical Translation students and their teacher Dainora Maumevičienė, professional translator and Vice-Dean for Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities.

“The experience of simultaneous translation of a theatre play is completely different from, say, interpreting during the conference or business meetings. A play is a living organism. You must act fast, for example, to decide what to do, if the actors on stage all talk simultaneously”, says Maumevičienė.

According to her, the audience for the theatre plays with English translation is very wide: from international students and residents of Kaunas to the Lithuanian students who want to find out what it is like to be a translator.

“There are so many peculiarities of our job. When interpreting the play, we must keep in mind that there might also be people to whom English is not native language in the audience. We need to adapt the text. While working I am always thinking about the viewer who is not from our culture – how best can I convey the main idea to him or her?”, says Maumevičienė.

For the KTU-initiated innovation – live translations of theatre plays – Kaunas National Drama Theatre was nominated for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation award for Excellence and Innovation in tourism in 2016.

THE TRIBE. Thursday, 9 February 2017, 6pm

About the play

From Lithuanian classic Ieva Simonaitytė, comes an emotional family saga retelling the fate of the Šimoniai family between 18th and 20th centuries. Based on Simonaitytė’s most famous novel, Aukštujų Šimonių likimas Kaunas National Drama Theatre show “Gentis” (Eng. The Tribe) is a one-act play about Rose, the last surviving member of the Šimoniai family, who tells a story about her tribe and the family.

Director and dramatization: Agnius Jankevičius

Set and costume designer: Laura Luišaitytė

Lighting and video designer: Vladimiras Šerstabojevas

Cast: Inga Mikutavičiūtė, Aleksandras Kleinas, Gabrielė Aničaitė, Jūratė Onaitytė, Kęstutis Povilaitis, Daiva Rudokaitė, Gintautas Bejeris

Duration: 2 hours

More on the play here (scroll down the page for information in English).

Tikcets here.