Go back Rīgas Cirks Residency Programme for Baltic Artists: Gabrielė Penčylaitė and Aistė Rekašiūtė (LT)
14.11.2025.
From 4 to 17 November, 2025, bouffon Gabrielė Penčylaitė and director Aistė Rekašiūtė are developing their performance Zero as part of the Rīgas Cirks Residency Programme for Baltic artists.
The creative journey of actress and bouffon Gabrielė Penčylaitė and director Aistė Rekašiūtė began with the idea and initial sketch for the solo bouffon performance Zero. The sketch was created at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre while Gabrielė was completing her Master’s studies in acting. During the residency, the artists aim to further develop this work into a full performance.
At the heart of the performance lies the human relationship with faith. Through the bouffon’s mocking, grotesque, and at the same time piercingly precise reflection of society, the artists explore its flaws, selfishness, and distortions of belief.
Bouffon Zero is an outcast living on the margins of society. Excluded from the ranks of the “normal,” he observes the entire theatre of human existence from the outside. He serves as a grotesque mirror of society, revealing its flaws, egoism, and distorted faith. Zero possesses the power of speech – one that can shake, shatter illusions, and provoke reflection.
Through parody, grotesque, and irony, Zero attempts to reach different kinds of believers, revealing how often a person’s ultimate centre is not God or others, but themselves.
Zero is not a comfortable, but a necessary encounter with one’s own mirror. It invites the spectator to recognise the ridiculed figure within themselves, to reconsider the meaning of faith, and to confront the question: is humankind still searching for God, or merely for a reflection of themselves?
Creative Team
Actress, Bouffon, Author of the Idea – Gabrielė Penčylaitė
Director – Aistė Rekašiūtė
Dramaturg – Dominykas Matulionis
Set and Costume Designer – Guoda Korsakaitė
Assistant Set Designer – Rugilė Lepšytė
Makeup Artist – Severija Bružaitė
Bouffon Mentors – Thomas Toppler and Gonzalo Villareal Porzio
Supported by:
