Composer’s Artūras Bumšteinas (b. 1982) sound performance “Audiokaukas” is inspired by the 1990s Lithuanian television broadcasted fantasy film shows “Videokaukas” and books from the “Science Fiction Golden Fund” published by the “Eridanas” publishing house.
The author of the sound play dedicated several years to reading the mentioned books and watching the films aired on the “Videokaukas” show. From more than a hundred books and films, the creator drew inspiration for the plot.
The scenario of “Audiokaukas” is a kind of concentrate of fantasy literature presented in the form of a collage-composed story. This story is an episode of a few days and nights in the life of a young talented chef Denis. Initially, the hero’s everyday life, his extraverted, hedonistic character (Denis = Gr. Dionysus) is narrated in fragments. The narrative shift occurs when Denis, while preparing one of his dishes, poisons himself with false morels (Lat. Gyromitra Esculenta) – the consequences of poisoning are not immediately evident in the story. They are gradually revealed to the listeners of the sound performance.
Script, music and sound editing by Arturas Bumšteinas; Recording studio sound director Ramūnas Jasutis; Producer Operomanija; Voices by: Vytautas Tinteris (Denis Denisovas), Šarūnas Nakas (Apolonijus Polonskis), Svetlana Bagdonaitė (Narrator), Birutė Mar (Narrator’s daughter), Karina Metrikytė (host of the talk show “Daily Guest”), Irmantas Jankaitis (Bobausis), Benas Šarka (Gauruotis), Armantas Gečiauskas (Ambassador), Mikas Žukauskas (translator of Ambassador), Aušrinė Benedikt (Jūratė), Vidmina Stasiulytė (Justė), Marija Rasa Kudabaitė (Jurga), Šalnė Bučiūtė (Cita), Audrius Pocius (Friend), Žilvinas Andriušis (Bibliotekininkas), Ieva Rojūtė (Waitress), Ieva Malikėnaitė (Waitress), Nick Bastis (Ufonautas, USA), Aapo Nikkanen (Ufonautas, Finland)
Music performers: Svetlana Bagdonaitė, Gabrielė Griciūtė; Choir of Songs: Aušrinė Benedikt, Vidmina Stasiulytė, Šalnė Bučiūtė; Live sound effects artist Benas Šarka