The theater virus began to spread in Lithuania from the 16th century. the beginning of the academic year of Vilnius College established by the Jesuits. However, professional Lithuanian theater began to take shape only in the 19th century. at the end The State Theater established in Kaunas during the Soviet period was divided into two parts, one of which is known today as one of the most important stages of Lithuanian theater - the Lithuanian National Drama Theater. "Thank you for being interested in the theater," says theater expert Daiva Šabasevičienė before starting to talk about the history of the theater, its first directors, repertoire and interesting things about theater houses. The beginning of the theater, which has changed its name at least seven times, is often wrongly counted from the date of the first performance - Herman Heijermans' drama "Hope" performed on October 6, 1940. D. Šabasevičienė clarifies that the theater must exist even before the performance is presented to the audience: "It is said that the theater was opened with the first performance. But everyone who knows the structure of the theater to some extent understands that the theater does not start like that. It needs to be founded, established." The theater expert reminds that the initiator and real founder of this theater is Romualdas Juknevičius: "Juknevičius' fate is very interesting. He is one of the central Lithuanian directors, a student of Oleko Žilinskas. After the Young Spectator Theater, he went to study in Moscow in 1934-1936. Upon his return, Boris Dauguvietis did not accept him back to the State Theater, feeling that he was a director of a new language and way of thinking. But Juknevičius always dreamed of having his own theater." According to D. Šabasevičienė, in 1939 After Vilnius region was returned to the Lithuanians, there was not a single Lithuanian theater in Vilnius. Here was an opportunity for R. Juknevičius: "Antanas Juška, the then director of the State Theater, issued an order on January 17 that the State Theater is divided into two troupes - one troupe remains with Dauguviečius, and the other is assigned to Juknevičius. On January 25, Prime Minister Antanas Merkys and Minister of Education Kazimieras Jokantas signed an order on the establishment of a Lithuanian theater in Vilnius. Although the Soviet occupation stopped this idea, Antanas Venclova and Justus Palecki nevertheless realized that Vilnius needed a theater. The Vilnius City Theater was established, appointing Juknevičius as its director. The real 85th anniversary of the theater should be celebrated on January 25, because that is when the theater's activities began at 13 Jonas Basanavičiaus street. Twenty-three of the strongest actors of the State Theater came to Vilnius after Juknevičius. Thus began a kind of theatrical renaissance. Juknevičius left traces in the theater that can still be felt today." 20th century. In the theater founded by R. Juknevičius, the era of directing began, which turned into the beginning of modernist theater. "Each system calls the main leaders differently. There were ten central directors of the theater: Romualdas Juknevičius, Boris Dauguvietis, Juozas Rudzinskas, Henrikas Vancevičius, Jonas Vaitkus, Rimas Tuminas, Faustas Latėnas, Vytautas Rumšas, Adolfas Večerskis and until now Martynas Budraitis is the director. Although we are very young in theater, we managed to create a strong Lithuanian theater very quickly. All this is also related to the growth of directing. Another turning point happened in a very difficult time, when Juozas Rudzinskas managed the theater. He was a wonderful actor, but his direction was domestic and weak. His friend Pranas Treinys saw that the theater was running out of steam, and they started looking for a director. At that time, Henrikas Vancevičius made a big mark in Kaunas. He was appointed senior director from 1966. From then on, he and Treini were like twin brothers, ruling this theater until finally his students rebelled against Vancevičius. When Henrikas Vancevičius was directing, Pranas Treinys from Kaunas invited Jonas Vaitkäs to create something. He suggested Antanas Škėma's "Awakening". Škėma was prohibited at that time, but Treinys still agreed. A very interesting production took place. It was a renewal of direction - Vancevičius's psychological-realist theater was exhausted, the beginning of modernism began. A completely different directorial language appeared. Jonis Vaitkas was offered to become the manager. In this theater, those changes took place quite harmoniously. The quality of the performance was always looked at - a new language, and a person rises to the top. Jonas Vaitkus opened the door to complete modernism. His students integrated, who are still leading actors in various theaters. His student Oskars Koršunovas came after him and consolidated the culture of modernist theater. A ne