LELE Puppet Theater of Vilnius

For this historic venture LELE will perform its most popular children's play,
A Circus is A Circus (see photos from the theater).

Tsatsa (Goody-Goody) helps the cuckoo hatch an egg

A Circus Is A Circus

The production is a series of skillfully strung episodes revolving around Goody-Goody, a little frog, who takes a detour from his normal routine and inadverdently hops into a circus performance. Klounas, the clown, befriends him and gives him a backstage tour.

Goody-Goody is amazed at the sights and sounds - there's nothing like this in his home at the pond! He meets an elephant and a lion. How does that elephant play musical instruments while balancing on a ball at the same time? There is also someone walking on rope way up in the air in high-heels! Everyone in the circus becomes enamored with Goody-Goody. They become such good friends that Goody-Goody takes part in their circus routines.

In between visiting the performers, Goody-Goody befriends another wayward visitor, a cuckoo, who is trying to find a place to hatch its egg. In a sequence of hilarious adventures, it is Goody-Goody who actually hatches it.

The play's action is not limited to the stage - with the characters calling out their names the children in the audience become active members of the circus performances.

All participants experience great fun - they are reduced to tears of laughter seeing the puppets misadventures and wondrous events they themselves experience. At this circus, everyone sees that magic really lives.

The LELE Puppet Theater of Vilnius

Celebrating its 41st anniversary, LELE presents a visually exciting innovative production exhibiting its kinship to Lithuanian folklore and folk art. LELE carries on the traditions of the Lithuanian puppet theater whose origins can be traced to the 18th century. It began in 1958 with the premiere of Egle, Zalciu Karaliene (Egle, Queen of the Grass Snakes) a Lithuanian fairy tale. During its first decade it used the techniques of the traditional puppet theater, hand puppets and marionettes. As it entered the second decade, the company began experimenting with alternative puppet and set designs, and expanding the its repetoire include internationally known fairy tales and original stories. Today, the company has grown to 17 professional actors, the majority of whom graduated from the Vilnius Conservatory, the Lithuanian equivalent of the Juillard School.

LELE Puppet Theater of Vilnius

LELE is guided by the vision of its artistic director, V. Kirkilionis, and his producers - B. Lukosius, V. Mazuras and A. Ragauskaite. Capitalizing on the spirit of revival and innovation in modern day Lithuanian poetry, art and music, LELE closely works with prominent Lithuanian playwrights and poets - S. Geda, M. Martinaitis and J. Marcinkevicius - to develop new productions. Highly regarded Lithuanian composers - F. Bajoras, A. Martinaitis, F. Latenas and V. Bartulis - compose original scores for new and restaged productions. Together these treasured resources, and LELE with its own creativity in design and technique, it has created a puppet genre that is recognized as one of the most innovative in Europe.

Annually, LELE performs 550 shows, to the delight of 60,000 children of all ages, in its 2 theaters in the Old Town section of Vilnius, Lithuania's capital city, in the former manor home of the Duke Oginski, located on Arkliu Gatve.. Its repertoire of 3 dozen plays is diverse, ranging from internationally well-known children's stories to cherished Lithuanian folk tales. A Spider's Wedding (Voro Vestuves), Journey To The End Of The Earth (Kelione I Pasaulio Gala), and Little Red Riding Hood (Raudona Kepuraite) are just a few examples.

LELE has also performed in England, Austria, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Ethiopia, India, Russia, Seychelles, Ethiopia, Algiers and Poland. In 1998, LELE won awards for its innovative puppetry at several festivals - 1st International Puppet Festival (Almaty, Kazakhstan) and Lomzynski Theater Festival (Walizce, Poland) - and the Grand Prize at BANANAFISH98 (Nömme, Estonia).

Tsatsa (or Goody-Goody) and Klounas are the two main characters in A Circus is A Circus. Klounas finds Tsatsa (Goody-Goody) wandering around and befriends him.

Performance Schedule

July 24, 1999
Sam Houston State University Theater Center
1740 Avenue H
Huntsville, TX
Box Office Number: 409-294-1329

July 27 - 31, 1999
Stages Repertory Theater
3201 Allen Parkway
Houston, TX
Box Office Number: 713-527-8243

August 1, 1999
Strand Theater
2317 Ship Mechanics Row
Galveston, TX
Box Office Number: 409-763-4591

August 3 – 4, 1999
St. Mary's Hall
9401 Starcrest Drive
San Antonio, TX
Box Office Number: 210-483-9257

While at St. Mary's, LELE's puppets, with their human assistants, will also present a workshop on puppetry theater production.

August 6 - 8, 1999
Austin Theater for Youth
710 E. 41st Street (between Red River & Duval)
Austin, TX
Box Office Number: 512-459-7144

Lithuanian American Community of Houston (LACH)

LACH was formed in 1991, following the reestablishment of Lithuania’s independence, with the objective of providing educational and cultural programs increasing US society's understanding and knowledge of Lithuanian culture. It is comprised of about 80 households whose members range from post World War II and post Soviet era immigrants, to third and fourth generation descendants of Lithuanians who immigrated at the beginning of this century.

In 1995, LACH along with The Lithuanians in Texas of San Antonio and the DeWitt County Historical Commission, installed a historical marker in Yorktown, TX to commemorate the Lithuanian immigrants who settled in DeWitt County during the period of 1852 -1875. A nearby small graveyard known as Jonischkies Cemetery contains the interments of the many of these early settlers.

LACH has successfully produced several concerts, most notably

• Muza Rubackyte at the University of Houston Cullen Performance Hall, November 17, 1998
  

Co-sponsored by KUHF, 88.7 FM, Houston's Classic Choice

• The Lithuanian State Opera at St. Paul's United Methodist Church, "A Celebration of Freedom" Recital, February 28, 1995

Soloists Vaclovas Daunoras, Vitalija Siskaite, Bronius Bekionis, accompanied by Jeffrey Nytch and David Kirk of the Houston Symphony, performed selections from Rossini, Beethoven, Liszt, Donizetti, Verdi, Ciurlionis & Nytch.

and other musical events at Texas A&M and Rice University's Shepard School of Music.

The LELE Vilnius Puppet Theater is its first foray into children’s entertainment.

Supporting the engagement are Stages Repertory Theater (Houston), Sam Houston State University Theater Center (Huntsville), The Strand Theater (Galveston), St. Mary's Hall (San Antonio) and Austin Theater for Youth (Austin). Additional funding is being provided by Dr. Joseph Kazickas (NY, NY), The Lithuanian Foundation (Lemont, IL), Exxon Corporation (Houston, TX),  Earl C. Sams Foundation (Corpus Christi, TX), and Mustang Engineers and Constructors (Houston, TX). LELE and LACH are grateful to all for their generosity. We appreciate their gracious and unselfish support of Lithuanian culture.