An Artistic composition for the theatre director Antanas Naraškevičius

An artistic composition, unveiled in 2019, dedicated to the memory of the director of the Tauragė Folk Theater Antanas Naraškevičis stands near Tauragė Culture Palace (3 Darius ir Girėno St.),  Šauliai Square and Art Group Walkway.

The author of the symbolic bench is a Tauragė blacksmith Kęstutis Plyskaitis. He forged a table, 4 chairs, a lantern and some personal items from steel:  a typewriter, a suitcase and a hat. The director’s words are engraved on the typewriter page: “I don’t like the theater – I like the people who work in it, because acting is the best of all the games that people play…”.

Naraškevičius, a director, a writer, a journalist and a translator who made Tauragė famous for his work, was born on January 2, 1944, in Vindeikiai village, Širvintos district. In 1960, he finished Musninkai secondary school and graduated from a drama studio of Vilnius cultural-educational collage in 1965. In 1972−1977, he studied journalism at Vilnius University. A. Naraškevičius published a collection of short stories “Stars don’t go out”. He worked at the Širvintos House of Culture, at the State Youth Theater, and the “Telefilm” creative group of the Lithuanian Radio and Television Committee. He worked as a director of Tauragė folk theater for 17 years (since 1974) and staged over 20 plays. Having chosen the original dramaturgy, he staged many plays by Lithuanian authors. A. Naraškevičius translated books, created the feature film “Night of the Maniac”, worked at television, and in the district municipality. He died on January 4, 2007 in Taurage. A. Naraškevičius was granted the names of the Republic’s Cultural Eminence and Meritorious Worker of Culture and Education.