The Lithuanian performing arts institutions system is defined in the Law on Professional Performing Arts (2004, last edition 2022). The Law classifies Lithuanian performing arts institutions as national, state, municipal, and other (e. g. private) institutions. In 2022, there were Lithuania 3 national theatres ((the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, and National Kaunas Drama Theatre),) and 1 national concert organisation (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 work of high artistic value; form the image of Lithuanian culture; consistently develop international creative partnerships; foster the receptiveness of society to the 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 in a separate line and the institutions are appropriations managers.
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 have their own premises (buildings). They have the legal status of budget organisations (see chapter 4.1.9) and are financed by the Ministry of Culture and municipalities. The Lithuanian Council for Culture finances their educational projects on a competitive basis.
Municipal performing arts institutions are owned by municipalities and financed from municipal budgets. The Law on Professional Performing Arts 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 authors and performers in the region to present their works to the public, development of public demand for professional performing arts and ensuring access to professional performing arts for all social groups.
The exact number of private performing arts organisations in Lithuania is not known. 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 Ministry of Culture provides information on 36 performing arts organisations that have the status of professional performing arts organisation granted by the Ministry. Private or non-governmental performing arts organisations finance their activity from their own income; they can also apply for funding from the Lithuanian Council for Culture and to the 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, Lithuanian private theatres became very popular and have doubled the number of their visitors over the last 10 years*. However, that number has more than halved in 2020, due to the pandemic-related restrictions.
Table 15: The number of theatres and their visitors in Lithuania in 2011–2020
| Year Number | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017* | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Number of national and state theatres | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
| Number of private theatres | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 24 | 24 | 39 | 37 | 38 | 36 |
| Number of visitors of national and state theatres (in thousands) | 594 | 625 | 645 | 659 | 719 | 753 | 767 | 709 | 765 | 305 |
| Number of visitors of private theatres (in thousands) | 256 | 233 | 407 | 564 | 735 | 526 | 628 | 643 | 698 | 256 |
*Data are available only about organisations that have the status of professional performing arts organisations granted by the Ministry. In 2017, the Ministry of Culture changed the rules for granting the status of a professional theatre and because of that the number of private theatres significantly increased in 2017. The largest number of visitors to private theatres, however, was achieved in 2015, i.e. before the change in the rules.
The function of distribution of 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, the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, the Vilnius String Quartet, the Čiurlionis quartet, and The Ensemble Musica Humana. Other music organisations that are 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, the 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 the performing arts. According to the Law on Professional the Performing Arts, the Ministry of Culture shapes the policy of the 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 the 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 the 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.
All kinds of performing arts organisations can apply for funding to the Lithuanian Council for Culture. In 2021, the Lithuanian Council for Culture allocated 2 359 310 EUR for 235 music projects, 1 184 405 EUR for 134 theatre projects, 623 529 EUR for 50 dance projects, and 176 320 EUR for 17 circus projects. Grants in each of the four areas of the performing arts were given for the following activities: 1) professional creation and its dissemination in Lithuania and abroad; 2) events; 3) accumulation of information (archiving, documentation) and its dissemination; 4) publishing; 5) professional criticism and analysis; 6) networking and mobility; 7) co-production; and 8) development of mastery and education.
The private and non-governmental professional performing arts organisations can also apply for funding to the special programme of the Ministry of Culture. The funds of this programme are used to finance the rent of the premises where the professional performing arts institution operates; maintain the infrastructure of the premises and the bookkeeping services, and cover the wage costs, including taxes, of staff employed by a professional performing arts institution.
In 2018, the National Audit Office of Lithuania carried out an audit of state theatres and concert organisations to evaluate the efficiency of their governance. The audit report states that professional theatres and concert establishments receive approximately 40 million EUR from the state budget each year. 97 per cent of these funds are allocated to 20 establishments which fall within the area managed by the Ministry of Culture, namely to national and state theatres and concert establishments. However, their funding is not tied to their performance, as the national theatres and concert establishments are not subject to any specific individual requirements. Audit results have also demonstrated that national cultural policy is currently being formulated without any crucial information on the performance of all of the relevant establishments. This leads to a lack of substantiated data on the pursuit of the goals of professional performing arts institutions, and whether the funds are being deployed in the most purposeful manner.
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 performances; and to 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 a national or state professional performing arts organisations and link their funding to the annual performance results.
Since 2019, the recommendations have been put into practice. The Ministry of Culture approved a unified set of criteria for evaluating the activities of budgetary institutions in the areas of government of the Minister of Culture. The criteria are divided according to the areas / topics of performance evaluation and detailed by describing the purpose of the criterion, its components, and the method of calculation. However, practical application of the new evaluation method was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the Ministry of Culture prepared the Draft Law on the Framework of Cultural Policy. The law should substantiate the role of national cultural institutions. The project proposes to establish exclusive functions of national cultural institutions: they must participate in the implementation of strategic cultural policy goals; organize and implement major national and international projects; perform the function of cultural competence centres; provide methodological assistance to other state and municipal cultural institutions; participate in preparing and implementing qualification improvement programmes, etc.
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