Following the expiry of the term of office of Head of the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre (LNDT) Adolfas Večerskis, part of the theatrical society opposed strongly against the intentions of the former director to remain in the position for five more years. A letter was presented to President Dalia Grybauskaitė and Minister of Culture Arūnas Gelūnas asking to pay more attention to the situation at the LNDT as well as to the attempts of politicians to interfere in cultural affairs. There was also a battle being fought with mass media, as almost all publications were full of articles written by well known theatre critics stating that the performances at the LNDT were of low commercial level and that the situation had to be changed.
After the competition, former director of the Oskaras Koršunovas Theatre Martynas Budraitis was elected the new head of the LNDT. The following six candidates had submitted their applications to participate in the competition: actor Rimantas Bagdzevičius, Martynas Budraitis, historian Jūratė Černiauskienė, manager of the Meno fortas Tauras Čižas, theatre researcher and manager Audronis Liuga, and former director of the LNDT Adolfas Večerskis. However, due to the conflict of public and personal interests in state service, the commission prohibited Večerskis from applying for the position.
After being elected director of the LNDT, Martynas Budratis listed extra measures necessary for the rescue of the theatre from the grip of a commercial repertoire in a brief presentation of his programme. In order to do this, the new director suggested referring to the already existing performances staged by the best directors (e.g., well known performances of the theatre Meno fortas, OKT, Gintaras Varnas, theatre company Cezaris Group, and etc.). Subsequently, the theatre would enable such directors to stage new performances and would present itself at the highest level not only for the Lithuanian audience but also to foreign theatre lovers. Moreover, the theatre company should gradually and naturally move to the system of fixed-term agreements. Finally, as Minister of Culture Arūnas Gelūnas noted, the theatre should be optimized as there are too many technical as well as administrative staff.
The new Art Council guided by theatre researcher Audronis Liuga commenced its activities at the National Drama Theatre. The Council is comprised of theatre researchers Irena Veisaitė and Ramunė Marcinkevičiūtė, writers Saulius Šaltenis and Rolandas Rastauskas, Vice-Minister of Culture Deividas Staponkus, composer Šarūnas Nakas, actors Jolanta Dapkūnaitė and Šarūnas Puidokas, creator of interdisciplinary art Eglė Rakauskaitė, and film director Šarūnas Bartas.
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