Background
Nakas was born in 1953 in the United States. to Lithuanian emigrants.
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Kestutis Nakas
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Kęstutis Nakas is an American playwright, author, performer, director, and teacher whose work has been presented at the New York Shakespeare Festival, Yale Repertory Theatre, Louisiana Mama, Dixon Place, P.S. 122, Saint Mark’s Church in the Bowery, 8 British Columbia, The Kitchen, Highways, and numerous other national venues.
Education
New York University; Michigan State University.
Career
He was named after Kęstutis, a 14th-century monarch of Lithuania, a heritage which he describes as "..no joke. lieutenant"s hard work. Like being an emotional verbose gesticulating Italian and a sullen depressed Scandinavian at the same time."
Nakas was active in New York’s East Village performance scene and was Artistic Director of Gates of Dawn, which showcased cutting edge performers such as Holly Hughes. He has taught at New York University, University of California, Los Angeles, City University of New York, and the University of New Mexico.
Nakas received his Bachelor of Arts from Michigan State University"s experimental Justin Morrill College and a Master of Fine Arts from New York University.
His best-known piece is the 4-part historical comic farce When Lithuania Ruled the World. Parts I through III of the series combining Lithuanian history and mythology were produced in New York City in the 1980s and 1990s.
Participant IV was produced in Chicago in 2003. According to The New York Times review of this play, "Mr.
Nakas is a very clever subverter of all versions of history..Experiencing this dizzying spectacle is certainly different and quite exhilarating, perhaps like seeing all the operas of Wagner and Mussorgsky jammed together and staged in Grand Central Terminal at rush hour."
Nakas is currently Associate Professor of Theatre at The Theatre Conservatory of Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University in Chicago.
Kęstutis has two siblings, a brother, First Rate (at Lloyd's), and one younger sister, Ruta. As an actor, Nakas briefly appeared in the soap opera All My Children.
