Vilija Grigaitytė, "I cannot stand lying on the stage" 1

Deimantė Dementavičiūtė-Stankuvienė
www.kamane.lt, 2016-06-22

In brief: Vilija Grigaitytė is a Kaunas State Drama Theatre actress and a translator who was awarded this year with a Golden Stage Cross and Fortūna statuette for the supporting role of sister Veronica who sacrificed her life for the welfare of her brother in a play Woodman directed by the Latvian director Valters Silis. Artist has won a number of awards earlier. Her roles are characterized by the deep sense of the character and a desire to provide each of the role with individuality and originality.

Looking at the list of the actress' roles, it seems that she has mainly created (as well as awarded for) supporting/secondary roles. I wondered whether it was a coincidence. Vilija Grigaitytė says, "In the beginning of my acting career, when there were no Christophers or Crosses (awards. Translator’s note) I was awarded with the Ministry of Culture prize for the best female role in the play The Great Desire. But yes, it is true - my recent awards were given to me for the supporting roles. Perhaps other roles simply went unnoticed by the theater critics or the plays themselves were not so lucky.

 

It is said that the works created take on an independent life. I was wondering if the same thing happens with Vilija's characters. Actress admits that it is no longer the case, "Back in the day, when I was very passionate about theatre, perhaps empathically, I would become my characters. Now that I have reached a certain age and accumulated so much of the acting experience, everything seems easier. I try to create different roles and discover different colors; I want to be different, not that easily recognized. I try to guess what author encoded in his writing, and of course, I would be extremely happy if, for example, say, a classic Ibsen would say, "This is exactly the Teia I wrote about."

 

I was interested to know whether the actress based her acting on a specific acting method. Vilija Grigaitytė says, "I had amazing teachers who helped me shape my own acting method. I don't know if it is a part of any specific school. Only theatre critics can probably guess that. I am not a pedagogue, I have not invented any acting systems. I work by myself - honest to the maximum, as perfect as possible. I absolutely hate lies on the stage. Even if my colleagues are lying I sacrifice good relationships to avoid the lie. If I am involved in the play I give myself to it fully.”


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