“Lilioma: A Modern Production with Ambitious Visual and Technical Approach at Dailes Theater”

Dailes “Lilioma” has been staged by a creative team, most of whom come from the play’s author’s homeland, Hungary. The audience of Daile Theater is already familiar with the work of the Hungarian director Ildiko Gāšpāras. The 2020/2021 production of Eugene Ionesco’s play “Rhinoceros” in her Daile Theater. In the season of 2018, it received the Spēlmanui night award for visual image and became a significant event in the theater, reports the Ministry of Culture.

This time, together with her team, the director has created a completely modern production version of “Lilioma” with an ambitious visual and technical approach for Latvian theaters. The production, together with the direction and stage solutions, creates a magnificent light and sound show. And, of course, the center of the show is the brilliant cast of the Daile Theater. The main roles are played by Lauris Dzelzītis (Liliom) and Dārta Daneviča (Julia). This will be “Liliom”, which will surprise the viewer.

In the play, Liliom is the manager of the gambling hall, who always has luck next to him, so not a single gamer wants to sit close to him. Even the shadow of his own loneliness does not darken the brilliance around Liliom – he is always able to be quite good and bring joy to others, but his heart is empty.

Only a simple girl’s affection and loyalty to the legendary Liliom forces him to give up his brilliance in order to gain something even more dangerous to his nature – love. The merry-go-round of life always offers him to throw the next circle, then the next one again, until heaven decides what to do with such irreparable shamelessness. Lilioms, staged in the Daile Theater, is a deeply personal story about love, misunderstanding and the pain caused by it.

Ildiko Gāšpāras explains: “This story is about the inability to show emotions – both Liliom’s and Julia’s inability. It has a deep compassion for how these people’s irresponsible and fatal decisions ruin their lives. I think the main problem with Lilioma is that none of the main characters can say “I love you” or show it, and that’s tragic. One should not forget the circumstances in which Molnar wrote this play; he wanted to ask for forgiveness from his wife Margit Ves, whom he had wronged for a long time. In this production as well, I wanted to create an atmosphere where you can constantly feel the presence of potential brutality.”

Lighting solutions and their scores, as well as the laconic scenography, are especially important in the show. The director’s idea, after getting to know the Daile Theater stage, was to create a scenography that strives for depth.

“The first thought in connection with “Lilioma” was about a tunnel or a corridor – a kind of passage that connects Life and Death, because this element – dying and coming back to earth – is at the center of the plot. I imagine the hallway, the place where you are never home. Maybe it’s a fragment of a labyrinth, where you always turn right and left, looking for the right path. In “Liliom”, I realized that perhaps the main motive is Liliom’s eternal being on the road, always looking for something”, says the director.

Cast: Lauris Dzelzītis, Dārta Daneviča, Ieva Segliņa, Dainis Gaidelis, Anete Krasovska, Aldis Siliņš, Gints Grāvelis, Olga Dreģe, Lidija Pupure, Imants Strads, Lauris Subatnieks, Indra Briķe, Juris Strenga, Milena Miškēviča.

The production is created by an international creative team: director Ildiko Gāšpāras (Gaspar Ildiko), playwright Matīss Griczmanis, scenographer Lili Ižakas (Lili Isak). The lights, which are brought to life by the lighting artist Oskars Pauliņš in the scenography and direction of the show, are of special importance in this production. Costume designer – Luca Sabados (Luca Szabados), video artist – Andrāš Juhás (Andras Juhasz), choreographer – Veronika Sabo (Veronica Szabo) an Ildiko Gāšpāra (Gaspar Ildiko), choreographer’s assistant – Inga Krasovska, composer – Flora Lili Matisa (Flora Lily Matis). Translators – Matīss Gritzmanis and Kintia Rogers. Assistant Director – Kinty Rogers.