- Place
- Kaunas City Municipality
- Region
- Kaunas
- Type
- puppet theatre
- Address
- 87A Laisvės Avenue, Kaunas
- Coordinates
- 54.89726, 23.90733
- Visit duration
- 1-2 hours, depending on the performance
- Best time
- according to the programme, arriving 20-30 minutes before curtain
Kaunas Puppet Theatre, Odeon Cinema
Choose a production by the child's age
Puppet theatre is not one uniform genre. Tabletop figures, glove puppets, marionettes, objects, and actor-puppet combinations create different tempos, sound levels, and narrative complexity. Your most important preparation is checking the recommended age and duration on the individual production page.
For a young child's first visit, consider a shorter production and seats near an exit in case a quiet break is needed. Older viewers can watch scenography, manipulation technique, and the way an actor builds character through voice and movement.
From a 1958 premiere to the Kaunas stage
The company was founded on 18 January 1958 in then Kapsukas, now Marijampolė, through actors Stasys Ratkevičius and Valerija Gruodytė. Its first production, The Magic Lamp of Aladdin, premiered on 18 May that year.
The company moved to Kaunas in 1960 and became Kaunas State Puppet Theatre. The international Smiling Puppets and Children festival has been held since 1991, and a puppet-theatre museum opened in 1994. Its collection reveals the puppet as an artist's and maker's object beyond stage lighting.
The building where Lithuanian cinema first spoke
The theatre occupies the former Odeon cinema, built in 1926 to Jonas Salenekas's design. VLE identifies it as the first building in interwar Lithuania designed specifically as a cinema. Lithuania's first genuine sound-film screening also took place here.
The cinema later bore the names Gloria, Baltija, and Pionierius. Set back in a courtyard from Laisvės Avenue, it is easy to miss on a first visit. Look at the façade and stained glass above the entrance from the City Garden side before the performance.
Tickets, box office, and arrival
Tickets are sold online and at the theatre box office. In 2026, published box-office hours were Thursday-Friday, 11:00-17:00, and Saturday-Sunday, 10:00-14:00, subject to performance-day adjustments. Reservation numbers were +370 37 221 691 and +370 620 74242. Check each show's price.
Arrive 20-30 minutes early, especially with a child who needs time to settle. The entrance is at 87A Laisvės Avenue in the City Garden courtyard. Ask separately about puppet-museum visits, education, and group size because these may not be included with every performance ticket.
