Lithuania 3.3

The Lithuanian performing arts institutions system is defined in the Law on Professional Performing Art (2004, last edition 2023). The Law classifies Lithuanian performing arts institutions in national, state, municipal, and other (e. g. private) institutions. In 2025, there were 3 national theatres in Lithuania (the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, and the National Kaunas Drama Theatre), and 1 national concert organisation (the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society). The Law prescribes to these institutions the function “to implement state policy in the field of professional performing arts: present to the public the most outstanding national and foreign achievements in opera, ballet, drama and music, represent the work of high artistic value, form the image of Lithuanian culture, consistently develop international creative partnership, foster the receptiveness of society to performing arts and ensure access to professional performing arts for all social groups”. National institutions are financed directly from the state budget, i.e., budget appropriations for the national performing arts institutions are indicated in the state budget on a separate line, and the institutions are the managers of appropriations. They also develop their strategic plans.

The group of state performing arts institutions includes 6 concert organisations and 10 state theatres, including 6 drama theatres, 2 puppet theatres and 2 musical theatres. The state theatres operate in all the larger Lithuanian towns and cities (Kaunas, Klaipėda, Panevėžys, Šiauliai, Marijampolė, and Alytus). All state theatres are provided with their own premises (buildings). They have the legal form of budget organisations (see chapter 4.1.9) and are financed by the Ministry of Culture and municipalities.

Municipal performing arts institutions are owned by municipalities and financed from municipal budgets. The Law on Professional performing Art prescribes to these institutions the functions of the presentation of classical and contemporary professional performing arts works to the public, creation of the conditions for the authors and performers in the region to present their works to the public, development of public demand for professional performing arts and ensuring the access to professional performing arts for all social groups. In 2025, the Ministry of Culture provided information on 19 theatres and concert organisations owned by municipalities.

The exact number of private performing arts organisations in Lithuania is not known. In 2025, the Ministry of Culture provided information on 51 private theatres and concert organisations. The Register of Legal Entities provides information on 120 registered organisations with the word “theatre” in their name that have the legal form of NGO, individual enterprise, etc. The Official Statistics Portal provide information on 53 private theatres. Private or non-governmental performing arts organisations finance their activity from their own income; they can also apply for funding to the Lithuanian Council for Culture and the funds of municipalities. During the last two decades, some Lithuanian private theatres, e.g., the theatre company “Meno Fortas” founded by one of the most famous Lithuanian theatre directors Eimuntas Nekrošius, and the theatre of Oskaras Koršunovas, became well-known not only in Lithuania, but also abroad. Despite the uneven competition with state theatres, as the latter receive direct funding from the Ministry of Culture and have their own premises, Lithuanian private theatres became very popular and the number of their visitors is almost on par with that of state theatres*.

Table 15: The number of theatres and their visitors in Lithuania in 2015–2024

Source: Official Statistics Portal

*The number of private theatres had significantly increased in 2017, as the Ministry of Culture changed the rules of granting the status of a professional theatre, and this status was granted to more private theatre organisations. Since 2021, the theatre sample in the Official Statistics Portal has been expanded and included theatres that only toured the country or showed only charity concerts.

The function of disseminating the professional musical culture in the country and abroad has been performed by 7 state concert performers and agencies. The National Philharmonic Society of Lithuania unites 5 musical performance groups: the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Vilnius String Quartet, Čiurlionis Quartet, and The Ensemble Musica Humana. Other music organisations, established and financed by the state are the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, the State Philharmonic Society in Kaunas, including the internationally renowned Kaunas State Choir, Lithuanian State Wind Instrument Orchestra “Trimitas”, the National Folk Song and Dance Ensemble “Lietuva”, the State Choir “Vilnius”, and the State Chamber Choir “Polifonija”. Besides their direct activities, these institutions, as well as the other non-governmental organisations, are engaged in the organisation of international professional art festivals and different contests in Lithuania.

The Lithuanian Ministry of Culture is the main political actor in the field of performing arts. According to the Law on Professional Performing Art, the Ministry of Culture shapes the policy of performing arts, drafts laws and other legal acts, promotes international cooperation between professional performing arts institutions and their participation in transnational cultural cooperation programmes, coordinates and controls the activities of state-owned theatres and concert organisations, etc.

The Minister of Culture is consulted by the Council of Professional Performing Arts. The Council performs the functions of an expert and consultant on issues of policy development and implementation of Lithuanian professional performing arts. It is composed of representatives of the Association of Lithuanian Performing Arts Organisations and of professional organisations that work in the field of performing arts.

The role of the municipalities in the field of performing arts policy is also defined in the Law on Professional Performing Arts (2004). Municipalities plan and monitor the activities of municipal theatres and concert institutions, coordinate the participation of municipal theatres and concert institutions in international cultural programmes, and ensure participation of municipal theatres and concert institutions in non-formal education programmes. 

When discussing issues in performing arts policy in Lithuania, one of the relevant issues is the absence of data on private theatres. Some of these theatres have been granted the status of a “professional performing arts institution” by the Ministry of Culture, but this status is awarded only if at least three of the five criteria set out in the Law on Professional Performing Art are met: 1) No less than two-thirds of the staged, created, and/or publicly performed performing arts works must be evaluated in monographs, studies, reviews, articles, and other publications by professional art critics in various mass media in Lithuania and/or abroad, and/or the staged, created, and/or publicly performed professional performing arts works must have received at least one Lithuanian or foreign professional performing arts award; 2) Professional performing arts works are collected and made accessible to the public; 3) The institution carries out cultural and educational activities in the field of professional performing arts and ensures measures to increase the accessibility of cultural services; 4) The qualifications of professional performing arts creative staff are improved with the involvement of highly qualified specialists; 5) Professional performing arts works are presented at international professional performing arts events. Not all private theatres are able to meet these criteria; moreover, they often lack motivation to do this, as the only tangible benefit of this status is partial compensation for venue rental, which can be requested from the Ministry.

Another persistent problem in theatre policy is the evaluation of theatres’ activities. In 2018, the National Audit Office of Lithuania carried out an audit of the state theatres and concert organisations to evaluate the efficiency of their governance. The audit report states that the theatres’ funding is not tied to their performance, as the national theatres and concert establishments are not subject to any specific individual requirements. Audit results had also demonstrated that national cultural policy was being formulated without any crucial information on the performance of all of the relevant establishments. In light of these findings, the National Audit Office of Lithuania formulated a number of recommendations for improving the governance of performing arts institutions: to specify the requirements and functions of national, state and municipal theatres and concert organisations in accordance with their purpose; create a management model of these organisations, which would establish additional qualitative performance indicators, revise the procedure for evaluating annual performance, detail performance indicators and determine their values. It is also recommended to periodically evaluate the efficiency of the activities of the institutions and the compliance of their activity with the functions of national or state professional performing arts organisations, and link their funding to the annual performance results. Тhese recommendations, however, are still not implemented.