Published: 19 July, 2013
by PAVAN AMARA
A “LOVING and inspirational” deaf actor who has died following an incident outside an Upper Street pub, had written a semi-autobiographical play about his life as an “outsider trying to do the best for his family”.
Vitalis Katakinas, 34, leaves behind his toddler son Gabrielis and fiancée Lina Cankis, after he died from a serious injury following the incident outside the White Swan pub where he was drinking after the British Sign Language Pride in the Park event at Highbury Fields on June 29.
Mr Katakinas had been living in the UK for approximately a decade, after moving from his native Lithuania. He lived in Enfield but regularly travelled to Islington to meet the deaf community.
Andrew Muir, literary associate of the Deafinitely Theatre company, where he worked, told how his friend’s hugs “lasted forever”.
He said: “He wrapped his arms around you and didn’t let go. There was no ego to him, nothing but love and giving. Sometimes he was so transparent that if he hadn’t had so much depth, he would have come across naïve.”
Mr Katakinas’s acting career started three years ago when he began rehearsing short plays with the company. He went on to do a nationwide tour for children, who “clung to him after shows because he was so endearing on and off stage.”
Then last year Mr Katakinas began attending creative writing workshops because he had an idea he’d been working on “for a while that he felt very passionately about”.
The work became the play Absent In Time, a piece about a young man “from somewhere very far away who moves to an unnamed universal city with a very global vibe”.
Mr Muir continued: “It was definitely semi-autobiographical. The character of the man was certainly based on himself.
“Though the character had hard times, the story was told through a very funny lens. I remember talking to him about it, and him saying he understood what it was like to feel an outsider, because he was from a foreign country and part of the deaf community.
“But he said being an outsider made you an insider into better things sometimes.”
He had not written a traditional script for Absent In Time, but instead drew each scene in “a very detailed and defined way” and then handed it to his director “with a shy smile”.
Eventually it was performed in British Sign Language at Rada’s studios, selling out and drawing praise from both the acting world and the deaf community.
Mr Katakinas continued turning up to rehearsals in his trademark “red-checked Paddington bear trousers”, which other actors say added to his appeal as “a bit of a cool dude”.
Mr Muir added: “His next step was to be a signing poet, his passion would have driven him to touch people’s hearts with that too. He was brimming with quiet determination.”
Mr Muir added: “I know his fiancée is beside herself. Everything he did was full of warmth, he was a devoted family man.
“There was something special in a room with him in it, you felt very supported by him, you knew there could never be any nastiness because his presence would cancel that out. If there was someone new in the room he was the first to make them feel comfortable.
“Again, I think that came down to his depth, and knowing what it felt like first-hand to be vulnerable.”
One of Mr Katakinas’s best friends, actress Lianne Herbert, mourned his “famous loving power hugs”. In a letter she wrote to her friend, for publication in the Tribune, she added: “You always knew when to give one!
• Homeless Matthew Powe, 29, appeared at Highbury Magistrates’ court charged with GBH on July 2. He may face a further charge.
Lianne’s letter for Vitalis…
I THINK I speak on behalf of all of us grieving for you since your death, ‘Why? Why you, Vitalis?’
You always gave people pleasant memories! Your famous loving power hugs have been mentioned many times. You always knew when to give one! I needed one that day at the Deaf BSL Pride event. I was feeling down before I left the house but when you gave me one I could feel all the love inside you. You knew how to connect with people and make them turn their frowns upside down!
You’ve touched many people’s hearts. Even those who’ve never had a personal conversation with you!
You, Vitalis, have inspired us to spread your positive message of love and give each other an unconditional source of strength. Especially in a time of need.
I want to make Trent Park, a national park in Enfield, London, a place for people to feel your beautiful loving presence. I was there with my mum the weekend after you passed away. The sun was shining on me but I couldn’t show my mum all of Trent Park. This is because funding has slowly disappeared to keep it in good condition. The grass is starting to grow wild there. The Mansion House is about to collapse as the land is subsiding behind it. Middlesex University were forced to move location last year as costs were too dear.
I know you would have felt at home if you went to visit Trent Park. So I want others to think of you when they visit the park.
It’s FULL of natural beauty. Just like you. Miss you terribly. Love from all those who are grieving for you. Xx
Vitalis Katakinas 