theatre lithuania

Lithuanian theater

More than 400 years ago first  shows appeared in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Then the first theater  was formed in the Low Castle in Vilnius.

Some History Facts

Since the second half of the 16th century foreign theater troupes showed their performances there.

In 1570 the first Lithuanian spectacle was showed by Vilnius college, which was reorganized into Vilnius university in 1579.

In 1875 the first city theaters were opened in Vilnius and Klaipėda.

The first performance was in a barn near the sea in Palanga in 1899. The creators were brothers Antanas and Juozas Vilkutaičiai. The name of the performance was “Amerika pirtyje”. Many people liked it and this performance stayed popular for a long time.

The First Drama Performance

The first Lithuanian theater, named National theater, was directed by Antanas Sutkus. Its first performance was “Litvomanai” in Kaunas in 1919.

The First Lithuanian Theater

Now there are 80 theaters in 10 different cities in Lithuania. The capital city Vilnius has 32 theaters and the most popular of them is The National Opera and Ballet Theater.

Lithuanian Theaters Today

The theater was founded in 1920. The first opera was “La Traviata” and the first ballet was “Coppelia”. Now the theater has opera and ballet groups, orchestra and chorus. There are 2 halls. The theater season lasts about 10 months every year.

The National Opera and Ballet Theater

The most popular performance in Lithuania is “The Nutcracker” by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. First presented in National Opera Theater in 1925, it is well-known and favorite nowadays.

“The Nutcracker”-”Spragtukas”

Lithuanian Theaters

Klaipėda National Drama Theater

The Freak Theater

The Youth Theater

Šiauliai Drama Theater

Panevėžys Juozas Miltinis Drama Theater

Domino Professional Comedy Theater

Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda Puppet Theaters

Various theater festivals like “Sirenos” (Sirens) are held in Lithuania every year.

The Theater Festival

Jonas Vaitkus Oskaras Koršunovas Rimas Tuminas

Eimuntas Nekrošius Gytis Padegimas

The Most Famous Theater Directors

Donatas BanionisVaiva

Mainelytė

Eglė Gabrėnaitė

Juozas Budraitis

Neli Savičenko

Regimantas Adomaitis

Famous Lithuanian Actors( Our grandparents adored them )

Rolandas Kazlas Jolanta

Dapkūnaitė

Vladas Bagdonas

Vytautas Šapranauskas

Rasa Samuolytė Andrius Kaniava

Famous Lithuanian Actors( Our parents loved them )

Jurga Jutaitė

Inga Norkutė

Giedrius Savickas

Marius Repšys

Ainis Storpirštis Monika Vaičiulytė

Famous Lithuanian Actors( Our generation enjoys them )

Thank you for your attention!