UNĖ | A performance inspired by the diaries of actress Unė Babickaitė

“UNĖ” – AN EVENT OF THE “THEATRE – A LIVING HISTORY” CYCLE

A performance inspired by the diaries of legendary actress Unė Babickaitė-Baye

Playwright, director and performer – BIRUTĖ MAR, set designer – DMITRIJUS MATVEJEVAS, costume designer – JOLANTA RIMKUTĖ, choreographer – EDITA STUNDYTĖ, composer – ANTANAS KUČINSKAS.

Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes

“Unė” is a performance based on a play written by Birutė Mar and inspired by the diaries of actress Unė Baye-Babickaitė (1897–1961). The play “Unė” was among the winners of “Versmės 2009”, a festival of contemporary Lithuanian drama. The author later created a performance based on the play.

The performance features photographs from the collections of the Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Cinema Museum.

Birutė Mar:

“Unė Babickaitė was one of the most prominent and colorful figures in Lithuanian theatre of the last century, an actress and director who performed in Hollywood films and on stages in New York, Washington and Paris.

Her diary, written in Paris in 1930–1932, seemed to be asking to be brought to the stage – Unė knew how to look at her surroundings through the eyes of a playwright, with self-irony, passion and humor. She was a person of an exceptionally beautiful soul, quite extravagant – she married her first cousin, Vytautas Graičiūnas, whom she met in America, and remained happily married to him throughout her life. She especially revered and idealized theatre. Unfortunately, after returning to Lithuania before the war, Unė was not recognized by Lithuanian critics and hardly performed at all. Soon, her fate took a tragic turn – in 1951, she was exiled to Siberia, and her husband died in a labor camp, followed later by years of loneliness in Kaunas… Yet Unė remained Unė – she organized evenings, recited poetry, and never lost her sense of humor or inner radiance.

I discovered so many parallels between Unė’s biography and my own life! Like me, she studied in St. Petersburg and performed in film and theatre. After returning from her studies – before leaving for America – she directed at the State Theatre in Kaunas (I, too, after studying in St. Petersburg, staged my diploma performance “Happy Days” in Kaunas). She was also interested in Eastern culture, traveled extensively, and performed in several languages…

I thought that through the character of Unė, it might also be possible to reflect on my own theatrical experiences, to create a performance about THEATRE – its enchanting and fragile illusion. And about our lives, which, like a performance, rush past us – a mirage of existence…”

Following the performance, writer and author of books on artistic biographies ALDONA RUSECKAITĖ will present the creative legacy of U. Babickaitė, one of Lithuania’s first professional actresses and directors, and will speak about the activities of Lithuanian artists in emigration during the first half of the 20th century.

A discussion with the audience will follow, featuring writer A. Ruseckaitė and the performance’s creative team, moderated by Birutė Mar.

Spectators who have purchased tickets are also invited to register for a guided tour of the collections of the Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Cinema Museum, taking place before the performance at 5:15 PM.

Registration: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeaneZEjzUWFyFmABQPuGWWY0OtFHDjOQt1QZJ-0DHORRatuw/viewform

The project is partially funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.

Project partner – Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Cinema Museum.

More information about the performance and photographs can be found on our website: https://soloteatras.lt/spektakliai/une/