MENKA DETALĖ. Rež. Adomas Juška | Klaipėdos dramos teatras

Based on Adania Shibli's novel "Minor Detail"

Director: Adomas Juška
Idea authors: Adomas Juška, Lauryna Liepaitė
Stage adaptation author: Adomas Juška
Set designer: Lauryna Liepaitė
Composer: Ieva Parnarauskaitė
Costume designer: Elena Marija Veleckaitė
Assistant costume designer: Nunilo Rumbutis
Video artist: Vytautas Narbutas
Lighting designer: Dainius Urbonis
Assistant director: Matas Makauskas
Cast: Martynas Berulis, Rūta Jonikaitė, Aleksas Kazanavičius, Viktorija Kuodytė, Bayan Shbib

One of the most talented young Lithuanian theatre directors Adomas Juška, who has already directed several stagings of complex works of literature, is preparing for a performance based on the novel “Minor detail” by the renowned Palestinian author Adania Shibli. 

“Minor Detail“ is composed of two contrasting parts. The first part tells the story of a crime that took place in 1949: a Palestinian girl was raped and murdered by Israeli soldiers. In the second part, a woman from Ramallah reads about this crime in the newspaper and realizes that the day of the girl’s murder coincides with her birthday. She then embarks on a difficult and futile journey to Israel, the goal of which is to discover more information and try to uncover this story from the side of the murdered girl, and not based on the soldiers’ testimony.

According to the director Adomas Juška, “the book raises questions that do not give me peace. How should we talk about violence? Where is the limit that storytelling, art, empathy cannot cross? Is a (re)telling possible that does not create a copy of the violence that occurred? What does it mean to not have power? How does this change the nature of the story? How can the stronger sympathize with the weaker if he cannot understand his or her story? We will start the rehearsals with these questions. With the story that we cannot tell and, at the same time, which we cannot leave untold.”

Adania Shibli (1974) is a Palestinian born writer, one of the most prominent and interesting voices in contemporary literature. Her bibliography is extensive and diverse, it includes novels, plays for the theatre, short stories and narrative essays. A. Shibli gained international recognition with her third novel, “Minor detail” (Tafsil Thanawi, 2017), written over a period of 12 years. The book was soon translated and is still being translated into many languages of the world, and the author was nominated for the International Booking Prize for this novel in 2021. The novel was also translated into Lithuanian and published by the publishing house RARA in 2023 (translated from Arabic by Julija Gulbinovič).

Adomas Juška (1996) is a Lithuanian theatre director of the young generation. A student of Eimuntas Nekrošius, he has graduated from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in 2019. A. Juška made his debut on the professional stage in his third year of studies, directing the performance “Schweik” at the Youth Theatre based on the famous novel by J. Hašek. His successful debut was followed by four performances that have largely shaped the director’s creative style. A. Juška often chooses complex, large-scale works of classical and contemporary literature: J. L. Borges, M. de Cervantes, B. M. Koltès and other works. His style is characterized as poetic, the director pays special attentiveness to details, the performances use complex rhythm, symbols and metaphors, the director also prioritizes action, rhytm and atmosphere over text and words. In 2023 A. Juška won the “Golden Stage Cross” as the best director of the year (the play “Western Pier” by Koltès at the Klaipėda Drama Theatre)