RIVER OF JOY (2023)

5000 black balls roam the streets. As if sensing freedom, yet driven by gravity alone, they weave into the landscape forming a new, fragmented urban terrain. 

The performance is shaped by contemplating the relationship between freedom and reality. Can freedom be both joy and hard work? How do we perceive the relationship between freedom and responsibility? How do we react to the acts of freedom? 

Expansive images of today's contexts and circumstances emerge during the performance, each of them being equally valid. Perhaps freedom is merely a mirage: an oasis we long to reach in order to become better versions of ourselves. It’s a relative measure, defining the distance to a goal that grows in proportion to the effort invested in reaching it.

Videos of the River of Joy: Contempo festival and Kaišiadorys festival.

Author and creator Paulius Markevičius

Performers Laurynas Jurgelis, Simonas Dovidauskas, Julija Šatkauskaitė-Jurgelė, Marija Petravičiūtė, Eglė Valadkevičiūtė-Marcinkevičienė, Vygandas Vadeiša, Viktoras Fedorenko, Juozas Veiverys, Gediminas Jurgelis, Džiugas Grinys (performers vary each time)

Producer Be Company

Premiere 2023 09 11, Vilnius

Photos Martynas Pleplys / Contempo, Martynas Norvaišas