Soviet Opera and Ballet Theater: Hot Chocolate, Cigarette Smoke in the Lobby and a Touch of Western Culture | Multimedia narration



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“He was, so to speak, an official swelling site. The location of the theater was convenient, the facilities of the party center committee, the communist youth committee, and the city executive committee were nearby. Also, for example, arriving at a sports hall with a crowd of 5,000 makes it easy to get lost. And there are less people here, you walk on the balconies and you meet other important people: “Hi Peter! Hi Juozai! ”. And so. You communicate and at the same time you feel cultural, stunned, as they used to say, to the cultural realm, “said Vytis.

In general, according to Vytis, buffets, such casual communication, and drinking were common in the elite mindset of the time.

“Guests come, you need a liquor. Whether the locals, from Moscow or elsewhere, need water. So for them, that buffet, a drink, was a very important attribute. I think that’s why they installed so many of those buffets. Because there is a buffet in the theater on every floor, “Vytis said.

However, during the transformation of the performances, the spaces of the party’s elite and the ordinary visitors of the performance were not separated. In theory, any ordinary Vilnius resident could approach, say, the chairman of the city’s executive committee and greet him. It is true that this rarely happened.

“Still, people felt that you, the man who came up with his problems and ideas, would not be very interested in him. There wasn’t much to talk about with them,” Vytis said.

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