For the first time in the history of the Panevėžys stage, the Juozas Miltinis Drama Theatre and the Panevėžys Musical Theatre are uniting for a common purpose - to tell the story of the legendary theatre personality, Juozas Miltinis, and the beginnings of the theatre he created. The performance at the Juozas Miltinis Drama Theatre will feature live music by the Panevėžys Music Theatre Orchestra.
Today, the names of Juozas Miltinis, Donatas Banionis, Vaclovas Blėdis, Eugenija Šulgaitė, Regina Zdanavičiūtė and other legends of Panevėžys theatre are listed in the golden fund of Lithuanian culture. However, not many people know how it all began, how the founders of Panevėžys Theatre lived in the early years of their work, how they became actors, how they survived the Second World War, and how the theatre they nurtured, which they considered to be a shrine of their art and an island where they found refuge from external political pressures, cultural desolation, and financial deprivation, was formed.
This story of the beginnings of the Panevėžys theatre is shrouded in myths and legends. The story goes that the young actors and their teacher Juozas Miltinis, who arrived in Panevėžys, were accommodated in a monastery on Marijonų Street, where they actually began to live as true monks of art - completely devoted to art and constant learning, without the right to start families, to interact with the outside world, or to have fun. Everything was common - the place to live, the food, the money, all the hardships and joys. Not everyone survived, but those who did became legends.
The creators of the play decided to look back at those difficult times of theatre creation and invite the audience to experience together the myth of young, passionate idealists ready to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the great art, which they considered to be an island of the essence of the world. An island that does not exist. An island that they sacrificially created in order not to fall, not to drown in the reality of everyday life that oppressed and suffocated them.
The project is funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania.
