Jono Jurašo karštas penkmetis Kauno dramoje ; Five years of Jonas Jurašas' works at Kaunas drama
Director Jonas Jurašas is associated with an important period in Kaunas Drama Theatre; it was a period of productive and inspirational work and lasted for five years (1968–1972). Having studied direction at A. Lunacharsky's National Theatre Arts Institute in Moscow, Jurašas came to Kaunas already having some work experience in Russia's and Lithuania's theatres. The foremost memorable plays include "dissident" productions in the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre – Leonid Zorin's Varšuvos melodija, and especially Slawomir Mrozek's Tango (both in 1967). In 1967 Jurašas was appointed Head of Kaunas Drama Theatre; he was determined to fundamentally change the old methods and lead the theatre out of stagnation by creating prospects to direct the work. He tried to solidify a repertoire of great quality (Michail Bulgakov's Moliere, Gogol's Inspector-General, Ibsen's Nora and others), get rid of worthless, short-term plays, wake actors from their lethargic sleep, and introduced discipline as well as the need to comply with ethical standards. He paid a lot of attention to Lithuanian dramaturgy and worked on several productions that became some of the most important Lithuanian theatre works. They were Kazys Saja's Mamutų medžioklė, Juozas Glinskis' Grasos namai, and Juozas Grušas' Barbora Radvilaitė. Jurašas worked passionately, had very high expectations for himself and his coworkers; he polished the form of his plays to perfection. When implementing conceptions of plays, he was always assisted by scenographer Janina Malinauskaitė and composer Giedrius Kuprevičius. Jurašas fostered an original touch to the theatre he led; he solidified the direction of an expressive and metaphorical theatre that was later refined and followed by other directors.