Barn theatre ( lt, klojimo teatras''Note:'' In Lithuanian, '' klojimas'' as a barn for grain threshing and storing) is a tradition in

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

to stage amateur theatre performances and music concerts in barns. The practice originated during the Lithuanian National Revival (late 19th century – World War I) when Lithuania was part of the Russian Empire and the Lithuanian language and culture were suppressed. After 1918, when Lithuania became independent, the tradition was discontinued, with the exception of the Vilnius Region, which was incorporated into the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

. The tradition was revived in the

interwar Lithuania The history of Lithuania dates back to settlements founded many thousands of years ago, but the first written record of the name for the country dates back to 1009 AD. Lithuanians, one of the Balts, Baltic peoples, later conquered neighboring la ...

. A barn theatre in the village of Margionys was established in 1929. The tradition of setting performances there was reestablished in 1970s–1980s and continues into the 21st century. Barn theatre festivals are being held in various places, including Kurtuvėnai Regional Park, and

Jurbarkas Jurbarkas (; Samogitian dialect, Samogitian: ''Jorbarks'', known also by several #Etymology, alternative names) is a List of cities in Lithuania, city in Tauragė County, in Samogitia, Lithuania. Jurbarkas is located in the historic land of Kar ...

. In 1983, the Barn Theatre was established by the initiative of the chairman of a local

collective farm Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member ...

and the students of folk theatre directors' faculty in Klaipėda department of the

Lithuanian State Conservatory The Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Vilnius, Lithuania, is a state-supported conservatory that trains students in music, theatre, and multimedia arts. History Composer Juozas Naujalis founded a music school in 1919 in Kaunas. This s ...

(under professor ). The barn theatre tradition is also kept by the Lithuanian Cultural House in

Puńsk Puńsk ( lt, Punskas) is a village in the Podlaskie Voivodeship in northeastern Poland, seat of the Gmina Puńsk in the Sejny County. It is located only from the border with Lithuania. History Early history The oldest traces of humans in P ...

and in

Sejny Sejny ( lt, Seinai) is a town in north-eastern Poland and the capital of Sejny County, in Podlaskie Voivodeship, close to the northern border with Lithuania and Belarus. It is located in the eastern part of the Suwałki Lake Area ( pl, Pojezier ...

, Poland. The Lithuanian Barn Theatre Society ( lt, Lietuvos klojimo teatro draugija) was officially registered in 1991.

References

Further reading