Seeing what is being written about Tadas Gryn after the “Macbeth” scandal – Agnė Grigaliūnienė decided not to stay silent: “I was overwhelmed with horror”
Seeing what is being written about Tadas Gryn after the “Macbeth” scandal – Agnė Grigaliūnienė decided not to stay silent: “I was overwhelmed with horror”
In recent days, criticism of Antanas Venckus, the head of the Juozas Miltinis Drama Theatre in Panevėžys, has been voiced multiple times in the public space. Agnė Grigaliūnienė also drew attention to this on her Facebook page and agreed to share her thoughts with the readers of the Žmonės.lt portal.
“I have not heard a single good word about the head of the Juozas Miltinis Theatre. I do not know the person, but SUCH a multitude of stories with a ‘nomenklatura’ scent does not bode well. And the math here is simple. Talents are leaving the theatre. First Aleksandr Špilevoj, now Tadas Gryn, and not just one creator.
The theatre rose so beautifully, people traveled to the city, watched performances, spent money in the city itself, and a broader cultural community was forming. After all, this is how not only cultural communities grow, but cities as well.
Therefore, it will be, to put it mildly, strange – if this story with canceled performances and refusal to engage in dialogue dies down, and the management continues to apply socialist realism methods..
I think we can do significantly better.
It is VERY important in this story that artists do not remain silent and do not allow everything to calm down and hide behind the theatre curtain. Because it is really not meant for that,” said A. Grigaliūnienė.
After the theatre presented its version that Tadas Gryn’s “desired financial conditions significantly exceeded the theatre’s capabilities and established payment practices,” there were rumors that he asked for too much. However, A. Grigaliūnienė’s opinion is different.
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“As the discussion about the situation at the Juozas Miltinis Theatre expands, I keep seeing people comment that the artist supposedly got carried away and ‘asked for a higher fee’! I cannot believe how hard it is for us to get out of the mindset that an artist must live by art.
From what I hear, I hear possibly the theatre management showing power in the wrong place and at the wrong time. As a result, the theatre, artists, and audience suffer. Then the whole chain – culture, city, cafes, etc.
For twenty years, our agency has worked with excellent artists at events, for whom our events become a source of income, not just work, creativity, or other forms of self-expression outside the theatre.
Once I heard about fees in the theatre for huge roles. I was horrified. Maybe that’s why I rarely negotiate fees with actors for events.
Today, I just remind you that we are talking about MACBETH. This is extraordinary material. Therefore, it is important that actors are at least decently paid and treated decently in conversations.
As I understand, the tickets for the performance were completely sold out! So how to explain all this?
This situation reminds me of the socialist realism era when the Soviets praised people who went with bare hands to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant tragedy. It was not heroism but madness.
Tadas Gryn, Aleksandr Špilevoj, thank you once again for discussing this publicly. A great example for colleagues. We need to talk!” – A. Grigaliūnienė wrote on Facebook.
We remind you that on Wednesday afternoon, the Juozas Miltinis Drama Theatre’s Facebook page announced the cancellation of all performances of Aleksandr Špilevoj’s famous play “Macbeth.” Although its premiere took place in 2024, the play was still drawing full houses, with all tickets sold out.
Also read: All “Macbeth” performances canceled at the last moment – Tadas Gryn shocked: “Maybe this is an attempt to get rid of me”
Regarding this situation, the Žmonės.lt portal contacted the main actor of the play, Tadas Gryn. He said that he left his full-time job at the Juozas Miltinis Drama Theatre in July but wanted to continue acting in the performances by simply changing the employment model. Unfortunately, he was unable to reach an agreement on a new contract with the management.
“I neither wanted to leave the play nor planned to do so. In fact, to be honest, I am a bit stunned that the theatre decided to cancel performances for which all tickets were sold out for all shows,” T. Gryn told Žmonės.lt.
The actor said that disagreements with the theatre arose when it was necessary to decide how to work further.
“Since I no longer belong to that theatre, we needed to agree on the conditions under which I would work because there are quite a few performances in which I acted.
Usually, negotiations happen in such cases; we agree on conditions, fees, the number of rehearsals, and all other things. But from the theatre’s side, I saw no interest or desire for those performances to happen because there were practically no negotiations. I said what conditions would satisfy me; during the conversation, I did not hear their possibilities or offers. I only received an ultimatum with a date, conditions they wrote themselves, amounts they imagined, although we did not reach a final agreement. And they said I had to respond by the evening whether it was acceptable; if not – they would cancel the performance. I think this is intimidation, maybe a means of influence, saying they will cancel, and so I must sign, although the conditions do not satisfy me,” shared T. Gryn.
The theatre director Antanas Venckus did not comment on the situation to the media, but after the scandal, an official apology was issued on the Juozas Miltinis Drama Theatre’s Facebook page, addressed both to the theatre community and the audience. Along with the regret, the statement also presented the theatre’s version of why the play was canceled.
“We want to sincerely apologize to the audience, the theatre community, and everyone who was waiting for the play ‘Macbeth.’ We understand that the cancellation of performances caused disappointment and inconvenience to both the audience and the theatre community, and we sincerely regret this.
The version of the situation circulating in the public space does not reflect all the circumstances.
After the actor unilaterally terminated his employment with the theatre, we immediately began negotiations regarding his further participation in the performances of ‘Macbeth’ because our goal was to preserve the planned shows and not disappoint the audience.
During the negotiations, the actor’s desired financial conditions significantly exceeded the theatre’s capabilities and established payment practices. Nevertheless, the theatre made the maximum possible offer corresponding to the remuneration of guest theatre actors performing main roles. Unfortunately, an agreement was not reached.
Only after exhausting all negotiation possibilities was the decision made to cancel the performances. Therefore, we want to emphasize that the theatre sought dialogue and looked for a solution acceptable to both parties.
Due to legal and personal data protection requirements, we cannot publicly disclose all the circumstances of the negotiations. However, to protect the theatre’s reputation, we reserve the right to do so in accordance with the law.
Once again, we apologize to the audience and everyone affected by this situation. We thank you for your understanding, patience, and trust in the theatre – this is our greatest value. We are making every effort to preserve the performances of the shows announced in the repertoire,” the Juozas Miltinis Theatre’s page states.
Tadas Gryn responded to this theatre post as follows:
“Your message sounds nice, but unfortunately, nothing new except for empty talk.
I informed on July 8 that I am leaving the full-time position. You started talking on August 4, three days before the announced rehearsal, THAT IS CALLED IMMEDIATELY.
If the goal was not to disappoint the audience, you would have gone into dialogue when I called and looked for solutions. THAT IS CALLED ‘PRESERVING PERFORMANCES AND NOT DISAPPOINTING THE AUDIENCE,’ but now it was simply getting rid of me.
And now the best statement is ‘ONLY AFTER EXHAUSTING ALL NEGOTIATION POSSIBILITIES WAS THE DECISION MADE TO CANCEL THE PERFORMANCES.’ Those possibilities are interesting, silence and a unilateral offer with an ultimatum by when I must sign the contract. Everyone understands perfectly well that cooperation does not work like that!
The biggest problem here is the communication crisis happening in the theatre; it’s no wonder people are leaving it!”
