VMT comedy

A two-part macabre and engaging comedy

On the stage of the Small Theatre – a comedy that sounds particularly relevant today, "The Suicide" by the first half of the 20th-century avant-gardist Nikolai Erdman. It highlights the absurdity of Soviet everyday life, which is well described by one of the play's characters: "At this moment, citizen Podsekalnikov, what you can think about while alive, you can only say when you are dead."

Director – Gabrielė Tuminaitė

Playwright – Nikolai Erdman

VMT actress Agnė Šataitė was awarded the "Golden Stage Cross" (2014) for the lead role of Serafima Ilyinichna in the play "The Suicide".

VMT actor Tomas Rinkūnas was nominated for the "Golden Stage Cross" (2014) for the supporting role of Kalabushkin in the play "The Suicide".

Adaptation author – Tomas Stirna

Set designer – Vilma Galeckaitė-Dabkienė

Composer – Giedrius Puskunigis

Cast:

SEMYON SEMYONOVICH PODSEKALNIKOV – Daumantas Ciunis

MARIA LUKYANOVNA PODSEKALNIKOVA, his wife – Indrė Patkauskaitė

SERAFIMA ILYINICHNA, her mother – Agnė Šataitė

ALEXANDER PETROVICH KALABUSHKIN, neighbor – Tomas Rinkūnas

ARISTARKH DOMINIKOVICH GRAND-SKUBIK, intellectual – Tomas Stirna

KLEOPATRA MAKSIMOVNA, romantic – Neringa Butytė / Ilona Kvietkutė

SPECULATOR – Tomas Kliukas

YOUNG MAN – Artūras Dubaka

Setting – a communal apartment where Semyon Podsekalnikov (played by Daumantas Ciunis) lives with his wife and mother-in-law. He is an unemployed idler who does not understand who he is or what he is doing in this life. Once, after an argument with his wife, he decides to commit suicide. His wife, mother-in-law, and neighbor try to talk him out of it, but for many, his suicide turns out to be useful. One persuades him to kill himself for the sake of society, another for her sake, a third for art, and a fourth for religion. The play is full of satire, farce, and at the same time, existential reflection on the meaning of life and human mortality.