Blue is the light that doesn’t reach us / Paul Budraitis
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Language: English
A distinctive and offbeat consideration of existence, longing, and hope.
Paul Budraitis returns to Acker Stadt Palast to premiere his newest original solo work, in collaboration with New York based designer Evan C. Anderson. This presentation marks a return to ASP for this creative team, after the success of last year’s I Love That For You.
A distinctive and offbeat consideration of existence, longing, and hope, “Blue Is The Light That Doesn’t Reach Us” invites us to step into the space between where we are and the distances which we will never cross. It asks whether going home again is ever possible, or whether the home that we long for ever existed.
Inspired by the work of Rebecca Solnit, Yves Klein, James Turrell, and others, the performance offers a side door to step out of our everyday noise and connect with the underlying mystery beneath all that we know, the unknown from which our dreams urge us on toward perfection and love, without knowing if we’ll ever reach them.
Paul Budraitis - author, director, performer
Evan C. Anderson - lights, sound, music
Duration: 1 hour
Supported by John Robinson, Josef Krebs, Ariel Glassman, Andrew Storms, Bebet Caguin
Paul Budraitis is a director, performer, and generative artist, based in Berlin. With the support of a Fulbright grant, he studied directing at the Lithuanian Music and Theatre Academy under the mentorship of visionary director Jonas Vaitkus. In Lithuania, Paul worked with the National Drama Theatre of Lithuania, the State Youth Theatre of Lithuania, the Kaunas State Drama Theatre, and Oskaras Koršunovas/Vilnius City Theatre (OKT). He directed the first-ever Lithuanian language production of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, and acted in a contemporary re-imagining of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, directed by acclaimed Finnish director Kristian Smeds. While based in Seattle, Paul directed the world premieres of Elizabeth Heffron's Bo-Nita (Seattle Repertory Theatre) and Kristen Kosmas’ The People’s Republic of Valerie (On the Boards), as well as the Northwest premieres of Will Eno’s The Realistic Joneses (New Century Theatre Company) and David Greig’s The Events (Intiman Theatre). As a founding member of Seattle performance collective The Violet Triangle, he collaborated with lead artist Timothy White Eagle to co-create the world premiere of The Indigo Room at La MaMa E.T.C., which returned to La MaMa the following year to perform at Under the Radar 2023. His most recent work, an intimate solo performance called I Love That For You which explores what death can teach us about living, premiered in October 2023 at Acker Stadt Palast Theater in Berlin and will have it’s U.S. premiere at La MaMa E.T.C. in December, followed by performances at On the Boards in Seattle in January 2025.
Evan Anderson is a lighting designer and composer for theatre, dance, and film. His lighting work has been seen across the United States and internationally in Europe and Asia. Frequent collaborators include The Wooster Group, zoe | juniper, and Paul Budraitis. He is a company member of CabinFever, a Burry Fredrik Design Fellow, and a graduate of Yale School of Drama.
Before moving to the East Coast, Evan was an active member of the Seattle music community and regularly performed with Heavy Petting, Livingston Seagull, Leatherdaddy, Merso, Marvelous Good Fortune and was a member of the rotating cast of Mike Sparks’ project Noonmoon. He continues to release music under his own name and composes music for theatre and dance.