BARTO
THEATRE DIRECTOR
URŠULĖ BARTO (BARTOŠEVIČIŪTĖ) (she / her) is a Lithuanian theatre director.
Hailing from Vilnius, Uršulė has worked as both a freelance and an in-house director at various theatres in Lithuania, Germany, Iceland and Ukraine, along with directing play readings, radio plays and assisting-directing. She earned a BA (2018) and MA (2020, course leader Yana Ross) in theatre directing from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.
In the broadest and most spacious sense, Uršulė is interested in time. More specifically in artistically researching how matters change as time passes i.e. the evolution of inter-generational relations; trans-generational quirks and traumas; the "unerring" ways of portraying specific characters, events and phenomena; "timeless" questions (as opposed to mundane); and questioning who makes these decisions. Things, thoughts and feelings that eventually shift: how we used to portray women, what is the right way to stage the classical texts, what kind of dynamics we prefer to voyeuristically watch unfold on stage and in the rehearsal rooms. Apart from making us physically and ideologically old and old-fashioned, what else can time do?
Uršulė was a resident director at the Berliner Ensemble for the season 2022/2023.
During the summer of 2024, Uršulė was an artist-in-residence at the National theatre of Greece.
For more information press here.
In 2018 Lithuanian Music and Theatre Academy awarded Uršulė with a personal scholarship in the name of Lithuanian-born film and theatre actor George Mikell (Jurgis Mikelaitis).
In 2021 The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania awarded Uršulė with the "Young Artist Prize".
In 2023 Uršulė's production of "Macbeth" at Reykjavik City theatre was nominated for Icelandic theatre awards "Gríman" in five categories: Milla Clarke for best set design, Liucija Kvašytė for best costume design, Ásthildur Úa Sigurðardóttir for actress of the year in a supporting role, Pálmi Jónsson for light design and Þorbjörn Steingrímsson and Hrafnkell Flóki Kaktus Einarsson for sound design.
Latest premiere: "Anatomy of a Suicide" by Alice Birch, premiered on November 28, 2024 at the Lithuanian National drama theatre. For more information press here.