The Girl with a Rifle

This is the story of a girl named Magdė whose parents and entire family were deported to Siberia at the end of the Second World War, when the Russians arrived after the Germans withdrew. With the help of her teacher, who is also a partisan, the girl moves into a bunker and becomes a partisan herself, saving more than one person’s life. The story is based on the memories of witnesses and freedom fighters from that time, historical material, and the account shared by a former partisan courier about a girl who lived in a bunker with partisans for a time. The play is therefore about the courage of the most vulnerable—children—in critical situations, and their instinct for survival. Despite its difficult personal experiences and historical context, the story remains warm and witty. Having grown up in a single day, Magdė confesses to a carved Rūpintojėlis that she is a terrible coward. Yet, without knowing what partisans or bunkers are, she bravely accepts her new reality and the unknown. After all, courage does not mean being unafraid. It means facing your fear and taking action. The play is full of action, while preserving the book’s witty storytelling tone: Magdė and her Teacher, the only survivors of the bunker’s explosion, recount the events they remember. The audience become characters and help tell this gripping story of survival. “Both the composer and I grew up hearing our parents’ stories about our partisan grandparents, so the subject is very personal to me. It is hard to find a family in Lithuania untouched by the war—by deportations or attempts to resist. In today’s global context, these stories need to be told again and again, because listening to them reminds us that it is worth defending our values even against a much stronger enemy, because today we are free,” says the director of the play.