The theatre education programme the black box is heading to Odesa!
On August 15–16, together with our partners — Liutyi Theatre — we are excited to invite artists from Odesa and beyond to come together to experiment, learn, and build connections.
Program
- August 15, 11:00–17:00 – Workshop by Dariia Lytvynenko “Archives of the Body of the Great Water”
- August 15, 19:00–20:30 – Public lecture by Naubertas Jasinskas “Shifting Gaze in Queer Representation”
- August 16, 10:00–17:30 – Workshop by Naubertas Jasinskas “Intimate Encounters: Exploring Presence through Alice Birch”
The lecture and workshop by Naubertas Jasinskas will be held in English with Ukrainian translation.
DETAILS
Participation in the workshops is free with prior registration. Entry to the lecture is open to all.
RegistrationWorkshop application deadline: July 25 (until 6pm).
Due to limited capacity, participants will be selected based on submitted applications. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, so registration may close before the official deadline. Organizers reserve the right not to explain the reasons for declining applications.
The programme is implemented in collaboration with the Lithuanian Culture Institute and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine.
The theatre education program “the black box” is supported by the European Union under the House of Europe programme.
Program curator — Liuba Ilnytska.
Workshop by Dariia Lytvynenko “Archives of the Body of the Great Water”
Date: August 15, 11:00–17:00 (with a break from 14:00 to 15:00)
Participants: actors, directors, performers, and individuals with various levels of experience in the field of performing arts
Venue: Odesa Regional Universal Scientific Library named after M. Hrushevsky, 49/51 Troitska St.
Conditions
Participation is free upon prior registration. Registration deadline: Friday, July 25 at 18:00.
Due to the limited number of spots, participants will be selected based on submitted applications. Registration may close before the deadline. The organizers reserve the right not to disclose reasons for refusal.
Workshop Description
Through physical theatre, movement, and performative research practices, this workshop invites participants to explore the sea as a bearer of historical memory and a cultural space. Participants will reflect on the intertwined imperial narratives of coastal regions — particularly Odesa and Crimea — through embodied experience of the “great water” as both witness and carrier of colonial influence.
The workshop aims to equip participants with tools to work with the themes of belonging and the bodily archive — using elements of pantomime, image creation, authentic writing and drawing, as well as collective exploration of forms that support the expression of political presence and the articulation of what has been suppressed.
About workshop mentor
Dariia Lytvynenko (Ukraine/Austria) is an interdisciplinary artist of Crimean origin, author, and facilitator working at the intersection of performance, visual art, and collective practices. Her work explores themes of colonial legacy, militarization, and loss, as well as the effects of these processes on self-identity, ecosystems, and landscape. Dariia reflects on both personal and collective Crimean roots, considering the body as a key instrument of memory preservation and resistance. Her practice highlights the cyclical nature of history and emphasizes the need to address the challenges of maritime regions in both local and international contexts.
Public lecture by Naubertas Jasinskas “Shifting Gaze in Queer Representation”
Date: August 15, 19:00–20:30
Participants: Professional theatre makers with a focus on people with experience in directing/acting
Venue: Odesa Regional Universal Scientific Library named after M. Hrushevsky
49/51 Troitska St.
Language: English with Ukrainian translation
Conditions
The lecture is free and open to all upon registration.
Lecture Description
This lecture will present the 2025 Lithuanian theatre showcase curated for the Vilnius International Theatre Festival Sirenos. The selection was shaped by a queer gaze — not only as a matter of identity, but as a way of thinking, seeing, and structuring a programme differently. In this context, “queer” is understood as a perspective that questions dominant norms and expands how we create, collaborate, and imagine together.
Naubertas Jasinskas will speak about the challenges of curating a programme in a context where queerness is often accepted only when invisible — tolerated, but not allowed to take up space. The lecture will reflect on how the curator approached this process: what was struggled with, what was questioned, and how the political intersects with the personal. The showcase features ten selected works — including dramatic and performative pieces, contemporary dance and pieces created with non-professionals — that blur the boundaries of authorship, aesthetics, and representation. Each of these works raises questions around identity, the body, marginality, and community, and together they offer an invitation to imagine a theatre culture that is more inclusive, plural, and emotionally urgent.
The presentation will also serve as an invitation: to consider how curating itself can be an act of resistance — and how visibility is not only about being seen, but about shifting who is allowed to speak.
Workshop by Naubertas Jasinskas “Intimate Encounters: Exploring Presence through Alice Birch”
Date: August 16, 10:00–17:30
Participants: Professional theatre makers with a focus on people with experience in directing/acting
The workshop venue will be shared later with selected participants.
Language: The lecture and workshop by Naubertas Jasinskas will be held in English with Ukrainian translation.
Conditions
Participation in the workshops is free with prior registration. Workshop application deadline: July 25 (until 6pm).
RegistrationDue to limited capacity, participants will be selected based on submitted applications. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, so registration may close before the official deadline. Organizers reserve the right not to explain the reasons for declining applications.
Workshop Description
In this workshop, we will explore a scene from [BLANK] by British playwright Alice Birch, whose formally experimental and emotionally charged writing often centers on women’s experiences and the structures that shape them. Together we will read and analyze a short, intimate scene from the play — a conversation about care that offers space to reflect on how identities are shaped through relationships, memory, and the need to be held. We will approach the material through a lens that allows for fluid interpretations of intimacy and identity, including a queer perspective. Participants will be invited to share their interpretations and relate the material to their own experiences and artistic practice. If time allows, we will also try working with the scene practically.
No prior knowledge of the play is needed — just openness to listen, reflect, and participate. The workshop is open to theatre professionals interested in embodied approaches to text and performance.
About speaker and workshop mentor
Naubertas Jasinskas is a Lithuanian theatre director, dramaturg, and curator. While his work explores intimacy, collective memory, and the body as a site of tension and transformation, he creates performances for both state and independent stages, often working across documentary and postdramatic forms. This year, Naubertas also curates the Lithuanian programme for the Sirenos Festival in Vilnius, with a particular focus on contemporary practices and underrepresented voices, framed through a queer gaze. He studied directing at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre under the mentorship of Yana Ross.