The campaign advertising the new season of the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre (LNDT) says: “Don’t go to the theatre” (“Neik į teatrą”). Posters with a theatre seat covered in plastic have peppered Vilnius this week, angering the arts community.
The LNDT campaign may be damaging to smaller and non-state theatres, according to arts communication specialist Stefanija Jokštytė.
“While the small independent theatre groups are doing their best to sell tickets, to promote and grow theatre culture, the biggest, strongest theatre, which receives the most funding for productions, says – don’t go to the theatre,” she wrote on Facebook.
“Do you realise what damage you are doing to the whole theatre field with this one sentence?” she added.
“To say ‘Don't go to the theatre’, especially for a theatre that is fully supported by the state, is, in my opinion, obscene with regard to those theatres that count every single euro and every single ticket sold. I keep getting this unpleasant tinge of arrogance – WE are the theatre,” culture journalist and communication specialist Laisvė Radzevičienė told LRT.lt.
According to journalist Valdas Puteikis, the slogan “has the mentality of the hipster generation – the stupider the cooler”.
“It is true that LNDT is a state theatre, so its communication and advertising should be more intellectual,” he wrote on Facebook.
Drawing attention
Others, however, welcomed the bravery of the LNDT’s communication campaign creators.
“More and more often we have bold solutions that provoke reactions. […] What we are seeing looks like the start of a major campaign, a so-called teaser. And it is very tempting, I want to follow, I want that plastic to be removed,” communications expert Laura Dabulytė wrote on Facebook.
According to her, the aim of every communication campaign is to draw attention.
“The sentence ‘Don’t go to the theatre’ is provocative and it obviously causes a stir. Who saw anything about theatre or performances in the summer? We’ve been to the seaside; we’ve shared holiday photos. And with the new theatre season coming, this plastic has a double meaning, and to me, it suggests that it is a desire to reclaim people’s attention,” Dabulytė told LRT.lt.
Hint of bigger campaign
Aušra Pociūtė, the LNDT’s Communications Project Coordinator, said that the “Don’t go to the theatre” poster is just the beginning of a bigger campaign.
“We invite you to wait for the sequel, which will be next week. There will be a press conference about the whole season, and we will give all the information. The campaign was created by the TRUTH agency. We will tell you about the main message and the concept during the press conference,” she said.
Antanas Obcarskas, one of LNDT’s artistic directors, noted that this campaign is a hint of the new season’s theme.
“It is surprisingly gratifying and good to see that the response in the public space to this rather simple communication move is so high. The campaign has reminded the public that theatre exists and that the new season is coming, not only for our theatre,” he said.
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