| Saulius Mykolaitis | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Saulius Mykolaitis |
| Born | January 15, 1966 |
| Origin | Ramygala, Lithuania |
| Died | February 18, 2006 (aged 40) |
| Genres | theatre, sung poetry |
| Occupations | Actor, theatre director, vocalist. |
| Years active | 1994–2006 |
Saulius Mykolaitis (January 15, 1966 – February 18, 2006) was a Lithuanian director, actor and singer-songwriter (bard).
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Saulius Mykolaitis was born in Ramygala, a small city in Lithuania. His parents died while he was still studying at school. Saulius was raised by two older brothers Sigitas and Darius who bought him his first guitar when he was just seven years old.
Saulius Mykolaitis started singing and creating songs at school. After graduating he moved to Vilnius and joined Music Academy of Lithuania. Initially he studied singing, but soon moved to acting.
From 1988 to 1992 Saulius Mykolaitis studied at the Music Academy of Lithuania under Professor Dalia Tamulevičiūtė[1] and received Bachelors degree in scene art (acting). In 1995 he decided to study for Masters degree and in 1996 acquired qualification as theatre director.
Mykolaitis committed suicide by hanging in 2006 in Vilnius, Lithuania.[2]
From 1992 to 1994 S. Mykolaitis worked in Vilnius' National Mažasis (The Small) Theatre. From 1994 until the end of his life Saulius Mykolaitis was an actor of Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, as well as collaborating with Oskaras Koršunovas Theatre.
During his career in the theatre he created over 20 roles. The most famous were Mercutio in K. Antanėlis' musical "Love and Death in Verona" (director Eimuntas Nekrošius), Roberto Zucco in Bernard-Marie Koltès' eponymous play (director Oskaras Koršunovas), Azzazelo in Mikhail Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita" (director Oskaras Koršunovas), The Painter in Howard Barker's "Europeans" (director Lary Zappia).[3]
Not only did Mykolaitis perform in other directors' plays, but he had also directed - and received renown for - several productions himself, the most important being (in which he also played leads), "Stop Machine" and "The City".
"Stop Machine" was based on Russian satirist's Daniil Charms' life and short stories, a performance, combining physical and psychological theatre. "Once Petrushevsky broke his watch and asked to call Pushkin. Pushkin came, took a look at Petrushevsky's watch and put it back on the chair. "So what do you say, brother Pushkin?" - asked Petrushevsky. "Stop machine," - said Pushkin." (Anecdotes from the life of Pushkin)[4]
Aside from theatre, Mykolaitis had three supporting film roles. The last one was in "Dievų Miškas" (Forest of the Gods)[5] (2005), a feature directed by Algimantas Puipa.
Saulius Mykolaitis also wrote and performed songs in the genre of sung poetry, playing the guitar. His first album "Nieko Nepasakyta" ("Nothing's Said") was released in autumn 2005. Posthumously his songs for children's plays were collected in an album called "Nupiešti Pasaulį" ("To Draw the World") (2006), followed by a compilation "Debesys" ("The Clouds") (2007), consisting of non-professional live recordings.