Eimuntas Nekrošius


Eimuntas Nekrošius was a Lithuanian theatre director.

Biography

Early life

Nekrošius was born in Pažobris village, Raseiniai district municipality, Lithuania on November 21, 1952.

Career

In 1978, Nekrošius graduated from Lunacharsky Institute of Theatre Arts in Moscow. After returning to Lithuania Nekrošius has been working in the Vilnius State Youth Theatre from 1978 until 1979. In 1979, he moved to the Kaunas State Drama Theatre, where he stayed for a year until 1980. 1980, he returned to Vilnius State Youth Theatre, where he staged series of notable plays. In 1998 he founded a theatre Meno fortas. From 2012 to 2013, E.Nekrošius worked as an art director in Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza. Just before his sudden death he was working on production of Edipo a Colono by Ruggero Cappuccio which was planned to be shown in Amphitheatre of Pompeii.
Between 1988 and 1992 he worked and staged performances in many countries - Austria, Yugoslavia, Italy, Finland, Israel, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.
Among the features characteristic to his plays are the soothing background music of a repetitive pattern throughout the performance, extensive use of dance and movement and unique props on stage, as well as an employment of natural substances as water, fire, wind, ice and stone. The length of a single performance often exceeds conventional viewing time since Nekrošius favours complex and challenging pieces to stage, such as the Song of Songs or The Seasons by Kristijonas Donelaitis. According to Nekrošius, a production, must not only speak, but it must do so on several levels, using multiple systems of meaning, in concert, to achieve a cumulative, unified effect.

Death

On November 20, 2018, one day shy of his 66th birthday, Nekrošius died in Vilnius, Lithuania after a heart attack at the age of 65.

Notable plays

Plays by Nekrošius were awarded diplomas of various theatre festivals in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia and other countries. Nekrošius is a laureate of numerous state awards.