Panel on the wall of Arklių Street, in front of Vilnius Theatre LĖLĖ

by Aušra BAGOČIŪNAITĖ PAUKŠTIENĖ PAKELIUI (En. On the Same Way) (20x3, acrylics), 2016.
Photo by Evaldas ČINGA

The composition by artist Aušra BAGOČIŪNAITĖ PAUKŠTIENĖ depicts spectators travelling to the theatre. The characters, marionettes and fairy tales go with them, and they are on their way, because they are all in a hurry to get to the Vilnius Theatre LĖLĖ! The artist invites street passers-by to join the travellers: the silhouettes in the composition are dotted especially for them. Come along and you will see that LĖLĖ’s performances inspire the audience to nurture both the body and the soul. For this reason, the artist has incorporated a height gauge into her panel. If you want to grow, you’re on your way too. Vilnius Theatre LĖLĖ is waiting for you!

On this spot, where A. Bagočiūnaitė Paukštienė’s panel now graces the wall, there was a building that connected the houses on Arklių Street into a coherent cityscape. It was the site of the house of the merchant Lev ZALKIND (now DIDŽIOJI str. 33), which at the beginning of the 20th century housed the restaurant of the Hotel Palas, and after the reconstruction of 1923 it was the site of the theatre PALAS, located at Końska 1 (Arklių str. 1). Between 1931 and 1935, the Polish Conservatoire named after M. Karlović was located here, but even then the hall was rented for theatrical performances. After the Conservatoire moved out, the premises were returned to theatre use, only since then Vilnius residents have started to refer to the building as "the former Conservatoire Hall". The Jewish puppet theatre MAIDIM used to perform there as well. During the war (1941-1944), the Vilnius Lithuanian drama theatre VAIDILA and the puppeteers’ group led by Mykolė KRINICKAITĖ operated here. After the war VAIDILA moved elsewhere, and the puppeteers of M. Krinickaitė who stayed here became the VILNIUS STATE PUPPET THEATRE (closed down in 1949).

On 15 January 1947, a commission from Moscow (!) was about to visit the theatre. To prevent the guests from freezing, the theatre's concierge started firing up the fireplaces in the evening, and kept it going through the night until, at 4 a.m., the chimneys caught fire because they could not stand the heat any longer. The fire destroyed the building to its foundations. Later, it was decided to enclose the yawning void from Arklių Street with a brick wall characteristic of Vilnius. On it, in June 2016, Bagočiūnaitė painted the procession on its way to the Vilnius Theatre LĖLĖ, which is located right here in the OGINSKIS Palace (Arklių str. 5).

The Palace of the Noble family Oginskiai was built at the beginning of the 18th century and has served the public since the 19th century. Until the beginning of the 20th century, it was the seat of the Association of the Nobility (Ru. Дворянскоe собраниe), followed by other organisations. In 1930, when the premises of the Palace were adapted for concerts, the inhabitants of Vilnius renamed the building MAŽOJI MIESTO SALĖ (En. The Small City Hall) Końska 3 (Arklių str. 3). It was also used for theatre performances. In 1939, when Lithuania regained Vilnius, this stage was used by the Polish LINKSMASIS TEATRAS (En. The Funfair), and in 1940, when Lithuania was occupied by the Soviets, the JAUNOJO ŽIŪROVO TEATRAS (En. Young Man’s Theatre) was established here, and in 1941, the puppet theatres of Vilnius, which had been freely operating up to that time, were merged with the Polish BAJKA, the Wilienski TEATER ŁATEK, and the Jewish MAIDIM. When Vilnius was occupied by the Nazis, the MAŽOJI MESTO SALĖ (the SMALL CITY HALL) ended up in the ghetto area. In 1942-1943 it was used by the GETO TEATRAS (En. Ghetto Theatre) of Imprisoned Jews. After the war, the hall was hosted by the ‘Militiamen's Club’, which was nicknamed the ‘Horse Club’ by the inhabitants of Vilnius because of its raucous entertainment...

The Vilnius Theatre LĖLĖ, founded in 1958, was for a long time housed in unsuitable premises on M.K. ČIURLIONIO Street, until it received an offer to move to the former SMALL CITY HALL – the restored Oginskis Palace (now Arklių Street 5). The inaugural performance of LĖLĖ was staged here on 31 December 1975.

During the restoration of the Palace, a part of the building that burnt down in 1947 was rebuilt, where the restorers created the LĖLĖ cloakroom and the new entrance. In front of it, in the house on the other side of Arklių street, the restorers planned to build decoration storage for the theatre, a puppet workshop, and a ticket office in the place of the windows that face the street. The façade of the theatre and the entire exterior were designed by artist Egidijus TALMANTAS. He proposed to connect the buildings on both sides of Arklių Street with a street arch typical of Vilnius Old Town – the artist wanted to incorporate the silhouette of the name LĖLĖ in its facades, like a glowing shadow theatre screen, while underneath the arch, open to passers-by, would be located the cashier’s windows and the clock with moving figures of the characters. E. Talmantas was going to cover the whole of Arklių Street up to the arch (from Town Hall Square) with a mosaic depicting a dragon... Unfortunately, the exterior project, which had already been started, was killed by Soviet reality: there was neither time nor money left for it because of the ‘Five-Year Plans’. It was only enough to build a rectangular niche in the entrance wall for the clock, but the clock itself and everything else was left for the future. The hastily conceived flat canopy over the entrance and the unsightly door have for decades encouraged audiences to walk past rather than come in, so LĖLĖ has tried to attract the attention of Vilnius residents in other ways.

Already at the first performance of LĖLĖ performed in this Palace (31 December 1975), the audience was greeted by a rolling horse with a rider, created by the artist Vitalius MAZŪRAS, at the faceless entrance on the street (it became the emblem of LĖLĖ and still greets the audience to this day). From time to time, the theatre’s façade was decorated for New Year’s Eve performances and during the children’s festivities on 1 June. After the holidays, the face of the theatre was back to being characterless. Around 1992, puppeteers tried to decorate the façade for a longer period of time: the children of Vilnius, invited by LĖLĖ, created their paintings on the walls of the theatre and the surrounding houses. They were joined by their parents, actors, and the puppeteer Vitalijus Mazūras himself – the Eye of Providence, which was painted at the time, is still on guard in one of the alcoves of Arklių Street.

The ‘temporary’ façade of the theatre, which had served for several decades, was decisively replaced by architect Saulius LEINARTAS in 2000. Instead of a niche for the clock, he cut out a large window, and above the entrance he built an arch, where the artist A. Bagočiūnaitė Paukštienė housed her puppets, waving with the doors of their hearts open. Now, passers-by stop at the LĖLĖ, tourists take photos and driven by curiosity, rush inside with the public... Come on in, LĖLĖ is waiting for both children and adults!

Rimas DRIEŽIS, Museum Curator of Vilnius Theatre LĖLĖ