- Place
- Klaipėda City Municipality
- Region
- Klaipėda
- Type
- professional puppet and object theatre for babies, children, young people, and adults
- Address
- Turgaus g. 9, Klaipėda
- Coordinates
- 55.70760, 21.13350
- Visit duration
- 45-90 minutes for a performance; longer with an education programme
- Best time
- according to the repertoire; weekend performances are usually easiest for families
Klaipėda Puppet Theatre public institution, Klaipėda University Puppet Theatre KU-KŪ, KU-KŪ
Professional puppet theatre in Klaipėda Old Town
Klaipėda Puppet Theatre operates on Turgaus g. 9 in Klaipėda Old Town. It is a small but very distinctive cultural space where puppets, objects, and visual-theatre language are used not only for children, but also for babies, young people, and adults - and it is considered one of the most innovative professional puppet theatres in Lithuania.
The hall is intimate: official information mentions a 70-seat auditorium, so performances often feel close and direct. That scale lets the audience watch the puppeteer's work up close, which is an essential part of object and material theatre.
From Pupa and KU-KŪ to an independent theatre
The theatre's roots are linked with the puppeteers' group Pupa, active in Klaipėda in 1989-1991. In 1991 a puppet-theatre troupe was founded in the Department of Directing at Klaipėda University's Faculty of Arts by Jūratė Januškevičiūtė and Dalia Vaigauskaitė, together with Linas Zubė, Liuda Vismantaitė, and Salomėja Burneikaitė. In 1992 the troupe took the name Klaipėda University Puppet Theatre KU-KŪ.
During the KU-KŪ period the troupe created 17 performances and took part in more than 20 puppet-theatre festivals in Lithuania and abroad. The theatre was established as a public institution in 2000, and in 2004 it separated from the university to work independently - led by Aušra Daukantaitė-Juknevičienė and Gintarė Radvilavičiūtė, based at the Žvejų rūmai culture centre. In 2006 Lithuania's Ministry of Culture granted it professional-theatre status.
The Turgaus and Vežėjų street buildings
The theatre first opened its own old-town home in March 2008 in a half-timbered house with a garden at Vežėjų g. 4 (built in the first half of the 20th century, renovated in 2020). Since 2019 that building has served as the theatre's education centre, so the historic half-timbered house with its courtyard remains an important part of the theatre's work.
The main stage has been based since 2018 in a former bank building at Turgaus g. 9 - a 19th-century masonry building reconstructed in the early 20th century. The theatre's address and hall are therefore in a historic old-town building, while its two spaces - for performances and for education - complement each other.
Repertoire, artists, and recognition
The repertoire covers audiences of different ages: from interactive performances for babies to object, shadow, and visual-theatre forms for older children or adults. Klaipėda Puppet Theatre is not only a stage for traditional glove-puppet shows - it consistently experiments with a theatre of objects and materials that Jūratė Januškevičiūtė began to cultivate.
In recent years the theatre has worked with foreign directors from Israel, Slovenia, and France, and its productions have won Golden Stage Crosses (2016, 2021, 2023) and Klaipėda City Thanks Masks (2015, 2021). Since 2009 it has belonged to the Assitej association, and its artists are members of the international puppeteers' union UNIMA.
The Karakumų asilėlis and Materia Magica festival
In 1997, on the initiative of the KU-KŪ university puppet theatre and the Department of Directing, the first chamber puppet-theatre festival Karakumų asilėlis was held. It was revived in 2003 and takes place every two years.
Since 2005 the festival has been international, and since 2017 it has been called Materia Magica. It is the theatre's most significant event, drawing puppet and object theatres from many countries to Klaipėda, so the theatre's programme is especially intense in festival years.
Tickets, visiting, and a Klaipėda route
At the time of research, the official ticket page stated that performance tickets are sold through bilietai.lt, with prices starting from 5 EUR and depending on the specific performance; tickets usually become one euro more expensive on the day of the performance. If visiting with small children, check the age recommendation, performance length, and ticket conditions for babies, because baby performances have separate rules.
The official theatre address is Turgaus g. 9, Klaipėda. Before a performance it is easy to walk through the old town, Theatre Square, or the Danė quays, and afterward continue toward the castle site and the History Museum of Lithuania Minor. Because the hall is small and the repertoire changes by season, the theatre reveals itself best when you plan around a specific performance.
