VMT Premiere

Carlo Oswaldo Goldoni

SUMMER FEVER

A comedy in two parts

Premiere: September 24–26, 2026

Director – Gabrielė Tuminaitė

"The world is a book from which I have learned the most," wrote one of the greatest masters of Italian drama, Carlo Goldoni. And this world in his work sparkles and bursts with unprecedented force from people, their conversations, and everyday situations. By creating simple, real, convincing, and easily understandable stories, C. Goldoni depicts human relationships from the inside, managing to unfold them in all their shades—turning them into a metaphor for the world itself. In the 18th century, filled with hazy prospects for the future and permeated by inexplicable cruelty, when there was a premonition that Europe would soon experience a turning point that would change the face of society forever, C. Goldoni is essentially human, capable of embracing a person with love and warmth even when fiercely criticizing them. Surpassing his time with his work, the playwright grasped the condition of modern man and the concerns that plague him, highlighting the importance of the character of a woman who doubted her deeply rooted traditional role in society—this mastery of his is perfectly revealed in the magnificent "Trilogy of Summer," consisting of three works: "Summer Fever," "Summer Adventures," and "Return from Summering."

This autumn, director Gabrielė Tuminaitė will present the first part of the trilogy, "Summer Fever," at the Vilnius Small Theatre. Livorno. The characters are feverishly preparing to leave for summer villas in the countryside, and in the foreground is Leonardo's jealousy toward his fiancée Giacinta, who is also being courted by young Guglielmo. In the desperate rush, neither financial nor moral norms are respected; the characters are gripped by a mania of vanity. They hope that by leaving for the villas, in that magical "elsewhere," they will fulfill themselves as people, and the problems they are running from will resolve themselves. But it soon becomes clear that the problem lies much deeper—in a complete inability to manage their lives, which are hurtling toward an abyss at full speed. As the characters constantly fluctuate between anxiety, jealousy, outbursts of anger, and irritation, the pace of the work grows incessantly, the dynamics rise to madness, as if possessed by this universal evacuation, they leave their littered, looted, and devastated homes-theatre and rush elsewhere, to where it is "better," hoping to become what they have been promised: to be more talented, more beautiful, more recognized.

Carlo Goldoni (1707–1793) was a Venetian playwright and director who created more than one hundred and fifty plays. The playwright was determined to achieve what seemed at the time an impossible mission—to create an Italian theatre that would resonate throughout Europe and become close to everyone. Having started his career at the sunset of commedia dell’arte, he removed the masks from the actors and raised the importance of the text, thus returning written drama to the theatre stage. Not properly appreciated in his time, having left Italy and eventually becoming completely destitute, considered only an author of mediocre comedies, he experienced a revival in the 20th century, when his works began to be staged one after another by the great masters of Italian theatre directing—L. Visconti, G. Strehler, L. Ronconi, and others, and skeptical theatre managers had to admit that the artist who created a couple of centuries ago was more relevant than ever. Today, C. Goldoni's work is firmly established among the works of the world's greatest playwrights, and the author himself is recognized by Italians as the "Galileo of new literature."