www.kaunopantomimosteatras.tinkle.lt
The Theatre of Pantomime was founded by the actor and director Kęstutis Adomaitis along with like-minded people in 1967. This is the beginning of the present Theatre of Pantomime and the Plastics. The first performance which saw the lights of the stage was “Here We Are” in 1968.
In 1971, the theatre became the winner of the stage artists’ festival “Golden Dunes” in Nikolajev. The first trip of the theatre abroad was organised in Saint Petersburg in 1978. The theatre set on a trip round Lithuania in 1981 – actors visited Panevėžys, Šiauliai, Klaipėda, Alytus, Birštonas, Jurbarkas, Utena.
The Ministry of Culture of Lithuania granted a special status of professional theatre, and the troupe of the Pantomime Theatre was appointed to act at Kaunas State Drama Theatre. The work at this theatre was started from 1982. Several premiers were presented as a result – the performance “Zoology of Invertebrate”, “Jonathan Livingstone the Seagull” according to the allegorical tale of R.Bach and others. The theatre stages the performance of absurd “Happy Days” on the basis of short stories of S. Becket “Happy Days”, “Waiting for Godo” and others. In 1984 the theatre participates in the international festival of S. Becket’s plays in Moscow with this performance.
In 1987 the Pantomime Theatre is moved to the State Philharmonic in Kaunas. A number of premiere performances are presented to the audience in the new premises. In 1988 the theatre is reorganised and becomes the creative-structural division of the Lithuanian Theatre Union with a status of an independent body. In 1992 the theatre moves to the premises at E.Ožeškienės Str. 12. A number of trips are organised with performances, the theatre participates in international theatre festivals.
In 1996 the activity of the theatre and its actors is presented in the illustrated art album "Kaunas Artists". Meanwhile, the founder of the theatre and artistic director Kęstutis Adomaitis experiences a tragic event and dies on December 22 of the same year. In 1998 a premiere of the plastic drama “Salvador Dali. Burning Giraffe” is presented in Kaunas. A joint creative project “Imaginations” is organised with Braunsveig troupe in Germany. In 2003 Kaunas City Municipality becomes the founder of Kaunas Theatre of Pantomime and the Plastics.
