Animated opera I Hit the Mark is a modern interpretation of an eponymous story by Lithuanian writer Jonas Biliūnas, a piece well-known to everyone. The opera is about a girl so involved into the world of computer games that she even forgets her daily duty – to feed and look after her kitty. Once, after losing a computer game, the girl gets angry and full of malice and she directs this anger towards her pet.
Contemporary adaptation of Jonas Biliūnas’ story I Hit the Mark raises the same eternally relevant questions: do we show compassion to those weaker than us; shall we be held responsible for what we tame? At the same time the story encourages us to think about the thin line separating fantasy and reality disguised behind seemingly innocent games for children.
While writing an opera for children I tried to maintain tension and drama, which I have experienced while reading the short story by Jonas Biliūnas in my childhood. There are two psychological lines drawn in the musical action: the first reveals irresponsible and frivolous behaviour of a child, whereas the second one encourages looking at the situation through the eyes of an audience, which realises an inevitably approaching unhappy ending.
Composer Rūta Vitkauskaitė