"Unė" is a performance based on Birutė Mar's own play, which was inspired by the diaries of actress Unė Baye-Babickaitė (1897–1961). The play "Unė" was among the winners of the Lithuanian contemporary drama festival "Versmės 2009" and was presented for the first time in 2009. in November, at the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre. Later, the author created a performance based on this play.
Photos from the collections of the Lithuanian Theater, Music and Cinema Museum were used in the performance.
Birute Mar:
"Unė Babickaitė is one of the brightest and most colorful personalities of the Lithuanian theater of the last century, an actress and director who acted in Hollywood films, on the stages of New York, Washington and Paris.
Her diary written in Paris between 1930 and 1932 simply begged for the stage - Unė knew how to look at her surroundings through the eyes of a playwright - with self-irony, passion, humor. She was a person with an extremely beautiful soul, quite extravagant - she married her real cousin Vytautas Graičiūnas, whom she met in America, and remained happy with him throughout her life. He especially worshiped and idealized the theater. Unfortunately, after returning to Lithuania before the war, Unė was not recognized by Lithuanian critics, she hardly acted anymore. Soon, fate took a sad turn - in 1951, she was deported to Siberia, and her husband died in the camp, later - a year of solitude in Kaunas... But Une remained Une - she organized evenings, read poems, did not lose her sense of humor and inner glow.
I found so many parallels with my life in Une's biography! Like me, she studied in St. Petersburg, acted in cinema and theater. After returning from studies - even before leaving for America - she directed in the State Theater in Kaunas (I also staged my graduation play "Happy Days" in Kaunas after studying in St. Petersburg). She was also interested in Eastern culture, traveled a lot, acted in several languages...
I thought that through the character of Une, it would be possible to reflect on my own theatrical experiences, to create a play about THEATER - its charming and fragile illusion. And about our passing life, like a performance, the mirage of being..."
