UNĖ | A Play Inspired by the Diaries of Actress Unė Babickaitė

"UNĖ" – AN EVENT FROM THE "THEATRE-LIVING HISTORY" SERIES A play inspired by the diaries of the 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 play created based on Birutė Mar's own script, 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". Later, the author also created a stage performance based on this play. The play uses photographs from the collections of the Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Cinema Museum. Birutė Mar: "Unė Babickaitė – one of the most prominent and vibrant personalities of Lithuanian theatre in 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 between 1930 and 1932, simply begged 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 exceptionally beautiful soul, quite extravagant – she married her true cousin Vytautas Graičiūnas, whom she met in America, and remained happy with him throughout her life. She especially revered and idealized theatre. Unfortunately, upon her return to Lithuania before the war, Unė was not recognized by Lithuanian critics, and she hardly performed anymore. Soon, fate took a sad turn – in 1951, she was exiled to Siberia, and her husband died in the camp, followed by years of solitude in Kaunas… But Unė remained Unė – she organized evenings, read poetry, and never lost her sense of humor or inner radiance. In Unė's biography, I found so many parallels with my own life! Like me, she studied in Saint Petersburg, acted in film and theatre. After returning from her studies – even before leaving for America – she directed at the State Theatre in Kaunas (I also staged my diploma performance "Happy

Adresas: Lietuvos teatro, muzikos ir kino muziejus