Actress R.Varnaite acting a part in performance “America in Sauna” honoured by Lithuanian notaries
Actress R.Varnaite acting a part in performance “America in Sauna” honoured by Lithuanian notaries
On Saturday evening the legend of theatre and cinema, actress Regina Varnaitė was honoured by Lithuanian notaries in Kaunas National Drama Theatre by being awarded a commemorative medal of the Lithuanian notary of the interwar period, enlightener and writer Juozas Vilkutaitis-Keturakis.
This year in relation to celebration of the 95th anniversary of independent Lithuanian Notariat a troupe of Kaunas National Drama Theatre has played a comedy “America in Sauna” written by J. Vilkutaitis-Keturakis. On Saturday the performance was played for the 701st time. The performance produced by stage director Valdas Lencevičius had been shown in Kaunas without an act-wait since 1974. It is impossible to imagine this comedy without actress Regina Varnaitė acting the part of Bekampienė for the past 40 years, who celebrated her 87th birthday this year.
“This year we celebrate the 95th anniversary of independent Lithuanian Notariat. One of the most outstanding representatives of the Notariat of the interwar period was notary Juozas Vilkutaitis from Prienai, who, being young, yet in the times of tsarist Russia and the period of prohibition of Lithuanian printing wrote comedy “America in Sauna” under the pen-name of Keturakis. Within the past four decades this comedy on the theatre stage is indissolubly associated with personality and talent of the legend of theatre and cinema, actress Regina Varnaitė. Today we hand out the commemorative medal of Juozas Vilkutaitis-Keturakis marked by number one”, said President of the Lithuanian Chamber of Notaries Marius Stračkaitis while handing out the award.
The comedy “America in Sauna” published in 1895 under the pen-name of Keturakis, which had been staged at secret Lithuanian evening meetings in the territory of Lithuania, belonging to the Russian Empire, and at evening meetings of Lithuanian dramatic societies, united Lithuanians, who stack together in Minor Lithuania, cities/towns of the Russian Empire, Europe, USA, educated civil and cultural Lithuanian society.
The Lithuanian Chamber of Notaries celebrating 95th anniversary of independent Lithuanian Notariat announced 2014 the year of Juozas Vilkutaitis-Keturakis and initiated honouring of his memory. 145th anniversary of the birth of Juozas Vilkutaitis-Keturakis was celebrated on the 1st of March of this year, and at the end of May a commemorative plaque in honour of J. Vilkutaitis was opened on the wall of the Cultural Centre during the Song and Dance Festival held in Prienai.
The commemorative plaque and the medal of J. Vilkutaitis-Keturakis were made by sculptor Gediminas Piekuras. From now on the medal will be awarded for merit in the field of strengthening of Notariat.
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* Juozas Vilkutaitis-Keturakis (1869-1948) – lawyer, playwright, public man. Juozas Vilkutaitis went down in history of Lithuanian law as a long-term worker: after obtaining lawyer’s license he worked in Marijampole District Court in 1905-1918; in 1919 he was appointed a judge of Seinai; in 1920 he organized a court in Prienai town and worked as a notary in Prienai for 15 years from 1924 to 1939.
* Only by good fortune the active public man and patriot, knight of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas J. Vilkutaitis-Keturakis avoided exile. After the Soviet government seized a house of J. Vilkutaitis in 1940 the notary moved to Kaunas. He managed to avoid great exiles in 1941, although the name of J. Vilkutaitis during these exiles was among the ones in the list of people subject to deportation from Prienai. In 1944 upon approaching of the front line J. Vilkutaitis left to the West. In 1948 J. Vilkutaitis died in Augsburg and was buried there. In 1975 his remains were reintered in Cleveland, USA.