The controversial “Don’t go to the theater” advertisement of the National Drama Theater was recognized as the best visual campaign

“The theater often suggests looking at the more vulnerable areas of life, so last season we started by turning the whole idea upside down, wittily suggesting not to go to the theater because there will be strong experiences that are not always pleasant. The most powerful experience seems to be the proposal itself. We didn’t expect this kind of hype, but we wanted the theater to be in the spotlight. We congratulate the advertising agency TRUTH and the entire marketing department of LNDT for finding the most accurate pronunciation, which proved to be the best offer to visit the theaters”, say LNDT artistic directors Kamilė Gudmonaitė, Antanas Obcarskas and Eglė Švedkauskaitė.

“Exceptional communication requires not only a bold idea, but also a bold client. TRUTH advertising agency and LNDT were such a great duo,” says TRUTH strategist Tomas Bartnink.

At the beginning of the campaign, an empty chair of the LNDT Great Hall, covered with a film and the laconic inscription “Don’t go to the theater” appeared on the billboards. This message was not welcomed by everyone, some took the information directly and resented this choice. A week later, the poster of the first premiere of the 84th season of LNDT “Ruletė” appeared with the actress already sitting in a chair and the first continuation of the campaign slogan “Get used to it”, corresponding to the theme of that premiere. This was followed by a photo adapted to each premiere and a continuation of the main slogan.

“Don’t go to the theater because you’ll get used to it. Don’t go to the theater because it will hurt and hurt. Do not go to the theater because you will get infected. Don’t go to the theater because it will remind you what you don’t want to look at, where you don’t want to turn your thoughts and what we are used to turning away from. This period is the time of new sensitivity, when everything breaks into black and white in a second, when you can easily turn away from you, when you yourself tend to throw stones at others, when opinion is the biggest weapon.

Do not go to the theater, because you will have to think, fight, react. Don’t go to the theater because it’s a poignant encounter between privilege and poverty, those in positions of power and those who have their place decided. Finally, don’t go to the theater if you’re afraid of death: the real death and the one that resembles mortality: the loss of the planet, the disconnection, the altered state of consciousness, the openness, the rebellion of bodies, the struggle for identity, the conflict of generations. Don’t go to the theater if you’re afraid to live,” LNDT artistic directors wrote about the 84th season at its beginning.

During this season, the Lithuanian National Drama Theater presented seven premieres: “Ruletė” (dir. Jo Strømgren), “Contemplating the Lobster” (dir. Yana Ross), “Haiku of Siberia” (dir. Augustas Gornatkevičius), “Teiresijo’s Breasts” (dir. Laura Kutkaitė), “Things I didn’t dare to say, and now it’s too late” (dir. Kamilė Gudmonaitė), “A play for those living in times of extinction” (dir. Antanas Obcarskas) and “Viktor, or Children in Power” (dir. Gintaras Varnas) .

For the Password award, “Don’t go to the theater” competed against the Eurojackpot advertising campaign “Only scenes without jealousy” by Fabula Rud Pedersen Group and Open agency. A total of 20 most effective marketing campaigns competed in the final. When evaluating the submitted campaigns, the greatest attention is paid to the achieved results (40%), followed by equal points to the remaining criteria: business situation and goals (20%), insight (20%) and implementation (20%).

The new, 85th season of the Lithuanian national drama will begin with the premiere of the Great Hall on September 13. Tickets for the autumn performances will be available at the beginning of June.