Powerful and ambitious – Daile Theatre’s new work “Rotkho” submitted to the audience / Article

“One of the most expensive works of art in the world, a painting by Mark Rothko” No. 6 (Purple, Green and Red) “, sold for 140 million euros. Whenever the news of new price records shakes the world, it begs the question: what is the astronomical value of this work in the art market? has become almost irresponsible, as the boundaries between the copy of a work of art, the artist ‘s reputation and the technological development of the art market have blurred, “the Rotkho annotation wrote.

Lukash Tvarkowski is a theater and film director who creates multimedia performances combining theater, video and visual arts. “In the show, we ask questions about the role of art today – about the relationship between art and the market, about art in the digital world. It is very difficult to find unambiguous answers to these questions, because we live in a post-truth world where nothing is completely clear “Technology is changing around us at lightning speed, but we as human beings are not ready for a revolution of such speed and nature. And one of the results is what is happening in the world right now,” Lukash Tvarkovskis told Latvijas Radio’s Kultūras rondo.

The Polish director and his team have created provocative performances in Poland as well as in Lithuania. He earned special public and critical acclaim in Lithuania with the 2017 show “Lokis”, which was nominated for nine Lithuanian stage awards and received four, including the highest “Stage Golden Cross” presented by the Ministry of Culture. In 2020, Lukash Tvarkowski produced a six-hour production of “Republic” that covers a wide range of contemporary issues of identity and virtual reality.

The play “Rotkho” at the Daile Theater does not have a specific genre – drama, directing, scenography and acting in a synthesis with the technological solutions used in television and cinema. The team that created this extensive work is international – the director, playwright, video artist and composer is from Poland, the set designer is from France, the costume artists are from Germany, and the lighting artist is Lithuanian. Most of the actors are Daile Theater actors, but two Polish actors as well as two Chinese actors from Riga are participating in the show.

Rothkho’s playwright Anka Herbuta has previously collaborated with director Lukash Tvarkowski. The playwright said that in the process of creating a show, it has been important for them to understand how to create art in such rapidly changing contexts as and whether art can change the world as a whole. Herbut pointed out that one of the “starting points” of the show was the artist Mark Rothko.

The playwright emphasized that not only Mark Rothko’s painting skills were important, but also “what he had to go through, whether or not he had to agree with himself to become a recognized painter and artist.”

This performance also tells the story of the artist Marta Zariņa-Ģelze about her unrealized idea – the installation “Collection of Tears”. Marta Zariņa-Ģelze’s project is most closely related to the art of Mark Rothko, more precisely to the fact that people cry at Mark Rothko’s paintings. She had planned to collect her tears from watching Rothko’s work. The artist divorced without realizing what she intended.

“Both sharply and wonderfully, the tragic fate of the Latvian artist was included in the show, in this way it became very personal.

At first I thought, oh, those screens again, but then it was so reasonable. Both this simultaneity in the acting and his close-up can be seen. Both mix as life several stories at once, which are not linear, but end together. The big stage is not too big. Two words – powerful and ambitious, “the painter Sandra Krastiņa shared her thoughts on the show.

Theatrical critic Tom Chever, after watching the show, commented: “Elaboration. Everything was thought out down to the last detail. Localization, local accents.

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