Rimas Tuminas, the artistic director of the State Small Theatre of Vilnius, is one of the most prominent directors in contemporary Lithuanian theatre. After graduating from the Moscow Lunacharsky Art Institute in 1978, he started his career the next year at the State Academic Drama Theatre, and stood out from the general repertory of the theatre with his first works. In his productions, daily life turns imperceptibly into poetry, drama acquires a tinge of tender irony, and every detail on the stage arouses the audience’s emotions. His productions are dominated not by effects, but by the playful improvisational acting of the actors. He has staged over 40 different productions in Lithuania and abroad. Since 2007, he has been the artistic director of the State Evgeny Vakhtangov Academic Drama Theatre in Moscow, which has become a distinct focus of artistic excellence under his leadership.
Foreign theatres eagerly invite Tuminas to work for them. He has worked in the Gothenburg City Theatre in Sweden, the National Theatre of Iceland, the Vakhtangov Theatre and the Sovremennik Theatre in Russia, Dundee Repertory Theatre in Scotland, the Vasa Theatre in Finland, and the Wspolcsesny Theatre and the Studio Theatre in Poland. Lithuanian productions by Tuminas have toured many countries and participated in international festivals in Canada, Ireland, England, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Poland, Iceland, Russia, France, Germany, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, the USA, Italy, South Korea, Columbia, Mexico, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Tuminas has won many Lithuanian and international theatre awards. In 1994, he was awarded the National Prize of the Republic of Lithuania for his productions of Galileo, The Cherry Orchard and Smile Upon Us, Lord. In 1998, the President of the Republic of Lithuania awarded him the Order of Grand Duke Gediminas, for his contribution to the national culture. In 1999, Masquerade received the highest award of Russian theatre, the Golden Mask, as the best foreign production put on in Russia. In 2000, Tuminas was awarded the Prize of the Russian Government for his contribution to Russian literature and art. His We Play Schiller based on Friedrich Schiller’s Mary Stuart at the Sovremennik Theatre in Moscow received the Seagull Award for the best play of 2000 in Russia. In 2009, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania awarded him the Medal of Honour, the Lithuanian Millennium Star, for bringing honour to the name of Lithuania in the world. In 2010, by presidential decree, for a significant contribution to the development of cultural relations with the Russian Federation, for the preservation and promotion of the Russian language and culture abroad, the Evgeny Vakhtangov Theatre awarded Tuminas the Order of Friendship.
Tuminas has been voted best director of the year in Lithuania many times. Mistras is the latest production by him. Based on a play by Marius Ivaškevičius, it comes across as a grand miracle play, at the same time as sounding like a requiem for the magnificent Romantic era. The production has already won five prizes at the 2010 Baltic Theatre Festival.
Productions directed by Rimas Tuminas:
2011
The Wind in the Poplars by Gérald Sibleyras, State Vakhtangov Academic Theatre, Moscow
The Pier, State Vakhtangov Academic Theatre
2010
Mistras by Marius Ivaškevičius, State Small Theatre of Vilnius
Masquerade by Mikhail Lermontov, State Vakhtangov Academic Theatre
2009
Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov, State Vakhtangov Academic Theatre
2008
The Last Months by Furio Bordon, State Vakhtangov Academic Theatre
Silent Night by Harold Muller, State Vakhtangov Academic Theatre
Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare, State Vakhtangov Academic Theatre
2007
Woe from Wit by Alexander Griboyedov, Sovremennik Theatre, Moscow
2006
Trufaldino, or The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni, Studio Theatre, Warsaw
The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, Gothenburg City Theatre, Sweden
2005
The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov, State Small Theatre of Vilnius
The Last Months by Furio Bordon, State Small Theatre of Vilnius
2004
Madagascar by Marius Ivaškevičius, State Small Theatre of Vilnius
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Gothenburg City Theatre, Sweden
2003
Family Stories by Biljana Srbljanovic, State Small Theatre of Vilnius
Richard III by William Shakespeare, National Theatre of Iceland, Reykjavik
2002
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, State Small Theatre of Vilnius
Trufaldino by Carlo Goldoni, State Small Theatre of Vilnius
The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol, State Vakhtangov Academic Theatre
2001
The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol, State Small Theatre of Vilnius
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Teatr Wspolczesny, Wroclaw, Poland
The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, Dundee Repertory Theatre, Scotland
2000
We Play Schiller, Sovremennik Theatre, Moscow
The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, National Theatre of Iceland, Reykjavik
1999
Richard III by William Shakespeare, Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, Vilnius
1998
Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Lithuanian National Drama Theatre
1997
Masquerade by Mikhail Lermontov, State Small Theatre of Vilnius
1996
Lituanica by Saulius Šaltenis, Lithuanian National Drama Theatre
1995
Don Juan by Molière, Vasa Theatre, Finland
Don Juan by Molière, National Theatre of Iceland, Reykjavik
1994
Smile Upon Us, Lord by Grigorijus Kanovičius, State Small Theatre of Vilnius
1993
The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, National Theatre of Iceland, Reykjavik
1992
Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov, Vasa Theatre, Finland
Galileo by Bertolt Brecht, State Small Theatre of Vilnius
1990
The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, State Small Theatre of Vilnius
1988
Here Shall be no Death by Valdas Kukulas and Rimas Tuminas, Lithuanian
National Drama Theatre
1987
People are Living There by Athol Fugard, Lithuanian State Youth Theatre, Vilnius
1986
One More Time there Lies the Sea of Lights (Jeane) by Alexander Galin, Lithuanian
State Youth Theatre
1985
As if We were Strangers by Andrei Kuternitsky, Lithuanian National Drama Theatre
1984
The Guests Come before the Thunderstorm by Romualdas Lankauskas, Lithuanian
National Drama Theatre
1983
The Snow Queen by Yevgheny Schwartz, Lithuanian National Drama Theatre
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams, Lithuanian National Drama Theatre
Quiet Night by Harold Muller, Lithuanian National Drama Theatre
1981
The Variations of the Fairy Drage by Andrei Kuternitsky, Lithuanian National Drama Theatre
1980
An Emigrant from Brisbane by George Chehade, Lithuanian National Drama Theatre
1979
Sonatina for the Peacock by Osvald Zagrodnik, Stanislavsky Theatre, Moscow
The Blue Little Horse by Maria Clara Machado, Lithuanian National Drama Theatre
1978
The Winter by Yordan Radichkov, Lithuanian National Drama Theatre
