The Golden Lion, Venice Biennale 2019
“Rarely has an environmental message been so subtly, humorously, tellingly conveyed in an artwork.”
--Igor Toronyilalic, The Spectator
“A lament to the eclipse of the world…”
--Searle Adrian, The Guardian
“Sun & Sea stands demonstrates the shared strivings and failings that make each of us human.”
--Louise Benson, Elephant Magazine
The award-winning opera-performance Sun & Sea brings vacationers on an artificial, indoor beach, who appear to ignore an impending climate catastrophe.
The internationally acclaimed, award-winning opera performance Sun & Sea by the Lithuanian artists Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, Vaiva Grainytė, and Lina Lapelytė, has been celebrated for its humorous, powerful, and timely depiction of urgent contemporary issues. Watching from a scaffolding above the stage, the audience looks down on a sandy beach, sunbathing vacationers, a mosaic of towels, bright bathing suits, children and toys. Their everyday thoughts, seemingly banal, reveal an underlying anxiety around climate breakdown – and puts us in front our own inability to face it.
I Imagine a beach – you on it, or better: watching from above – the burning sun, sunscreen and bright bathing suits and sweaty palms and legs. Tired limbs sprawled lazily across a mosaic of towels. Imagine the occasional squeal of children, laughter, the sound of an ice cream van in the distance. The musical rhythm of waves on the surf, a soothing sound (on this particular beach, not elsewhere). The rustling of plastic bags whirling in the air, then silently floating, jellyfish-like, below the waterline. The rumble of a volcano, or of an airplane, or a speedboat. Then a chorus of songs: everyday songs, songs of worry and of boredom, songs of almost nothing. And below them: the slow creaking of an exhausted Earth, a gasp. (Lucia Pietroiusti)
Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, Vaiva Grainytė, Lina Lapelytė
Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė (Artist)
Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė (b.1983, based in Vilnius) works as a filmmaker, theatre director and visual artist. In her creative practice, Barzdžiukaitė explores the gap between objective and imagined realities, while challen ging an anthropocentric way of thinking in a playful way. Her recent full-length documentary film-essay Acid Forest was awarded at the Locarno International Film Festival among others, was shown at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, Lincoln Center in NYC, American Film Institute festival in LA and many other events and venues for cinema and contemporary art. Sun & Sea is her latest collaboration in the medium of performance.
Vaiva Grainytė (Artist)
Vaiva Grainytė (b. 1984, based in Lithuania) text-based practice shifts between genres, interdisciplinary theatre works and publications. As a writer, playwright, and poet she takes action as an observant anthropologist: challenged by Grainyte's poetic interpretation, mundane social issues take on a paradoxical and defamiliarised nature. Her book of essays Beijing Diaries (2012) and the poetry collection Gorilla’s Archives (2019) were nominated for the Book of the Year awards, and included in the top twelve listings of the most creative books in Lithuania. Her oeuvre has been translated into over 10 languages. Her bilingual, cross-genre novel, Roses and Potatoes (2022), playfully and phantasmagorically deconstructs the stereotypical concept of happiness embedded in contemporary culture.
Lina Lapelytė (Artist)
Lina Lapelytė’s (b.1984 in Lithuania) performance-based practice is rooted in music and flirts with pop culture, gender stereotypes and nostalgia. Her works engage trained and untrained performers often in an act of singing that takes the form of a collective and affective event questioning vulnerability and silencing. She had solo shows at FRAC, Nantes; Lafayette Anticipations, Paris; Rupert, Vilnius. Her works have been exhibited or performed at the 13th Kaunas biennial, Haus der Kunst, Munich; Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussels; Tai Kwun, HK; Glasgow International; Riga Biennial - RIBOCA2; Lithuanian Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale; Cartier Foundation, Paris; CCA Ujazdowski, Warsaw; Baltic Triennial 13, Tallinn; Moderna Museet, Malmö; FIAC, Paris; Hayward touring show, UK; Serpentine, London.
Concept and development: Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, Vaiva Grainytė, and Lina Lapelytė
Director and set designer: Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė
Lyrics: Vaiva Grainytė
Composer and music director: Lina Lapelytė
Curator: Lucia Pietroiusti
Tour producer: Aušra Simanavičiūtė
Production manager / Stage manager: Erika Urbelevič
Technical directors: Lique Van Gerven, Dovydas Korba
Libretto translation (from Lithuanian to English): Rimas Užgiris
Sound engineer: Romuald Chaloin Galiauskas
Singing performers:Elena Alymova, Marco Cisco, Aukse Dovydenaite, Saule Dovydenaite, Daniel Monteagudo Garcia, Claudia Graziadei, Sandro Hahnel, Ona Lapeniene, Ieva Marmiene, Arturas Miknaitis, Eglė Paškevičienė, Vytautas Pastarnokas, Kalliopi Petrou, Svetlana Statkevičienė, Nabila Dandara Vieira Santos
Performers: Raminta Barzdžiukienė, Vincentas Korba, Jeronimas Petraitis, Juozas Petraitis, Mantas Peteraitis, Pranas Petraitis, Jonas Statkevičius
Local performers: Andrew, Chan Kai-Yin, Chang Che-Hao, Chang Chen-Pang, Dan Chang, Ruby Chang, Chang Wen-Lien, Chang Ya-Chu, Chao Ning, Chen Hung-Yang, Chen Pei-Wen, Chen Shih-Hsien, Weber Chen, Chen Ying-Hsuan, Mika Chung, Chung Sheng-Hsieh, Fang Yu-Ling, Fu Chun, Hsin Pei-Chin, Hsu Hsin-Ning, Hsueh Tzu-Chieh, Huang Liang-Fei, Huang Lu-Yu, Kao Chung-Huang, Ko Chuang-Yu, Ko Hua-Yu, Lee Chiu-Yue, Lee Dong-Hee, Li Yu-Ning, Lin Hui-Wen, Liu Jun-De, Liu Mei-Feng, Liu Yu-Ning, Roger Luo, Pan Bin, Pan Xi, Pan Yen, Rosa, Shen Min-Si, Tsai Lo, Sierra Tu, Wang Jui-Yi, Wang Sian-Yun, Wang Yu-He, Wang Yu-Li, Wang Yun-Ya, Wu Chun-Hang, Wu Hui-Mei, Wu Jhe-Jhih, Yih Yi-Roh, Yu Min-Ting, Lily Zhuang
Visual identity: Goda Budvytytė
Produced by Sun&Sea (Lithuania)
Founding Producer: Neon Realism (Lithuania)
Ticket Benefits
Member Pre-sale Period: 5/11 (Thursday) 12:00 to 5/18 (Thursday) 12:00
Addict Players: 25% off *Addict Players receive a 50% off coupon after attending 3 performances.
Trooper Players: 15% off *Trooper Players receive 20% off for orders of 4 or more tickets, and 25% off for orders of 10 or more tickets.
Ticket Sales Start Date: 5/18 (Thursday) 12:00
Addict Players: 15% off *Addicted Players receive a 50% off coupon after attending 3 performances.
Trooper Players: 15% off *Trooper Players receive 20% off for orders of 4 or more tickets, and 30% off for orders of 10 or more tickets.
Membership of the Taipei Performing Arts Center: New members（Rookie） enjoy a 10% discount. Register for free on the official website of the Taipei Performing Arts Center to enjoy ticket purchase discounts.
Taipei Arts Festival Early Bird Special:
Register or log in on the Taipei Performing Arts Center official website, go to "Member Area ➠ Coupons," enter the discount code "TAF88" to redeem two 12% off coupons for Taipei Arts Festival programs and one 12% off membership fee coupon. After redemption, you can directly proceed to seat selection and ticket purchase on "OPENTIX" or purchase a paid membership plan on the B-ARTS website.
Redemption period: From 5/18 to 6/20.
Cross-industry Benefits:
Eslite Members: 10% off ticket purchase.
Yushan Bank, Fubon Bank, Taishin Bank, Cathay United Bank cardholders: 8% off ticket purchase.
May Weekly Ticket Purchase Raffle: Stand a chance to win a stay at Grand Hotel Taipei, with a grand prize of a "Panorama Suite"!
Thousand-Year Egg Tofu's Good Friend: 12% off ticket purchase (discount code required).
Group Ticket Discounts:
- 20 or more tickets in a single order: 20% off.
- 50 or more tickets in a single order: 25% off.
- 100 or more tickets in a single order: 30% off.
Other Discounts:
- Disabled individuals and their necessary companions (limited to 1 person) enjoy 50% off (please present disability certificate at entry).
- Senior citizens aged 65 and above enjoy 50% off (please present valid identification at entry).
*The organizer reserves the right to change the program and interpret the discounts.
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