- Anatoly Efros
Anatoly Vasilievich Efros ( _ru. Анатолий Васильевич Эфрос) (1925 - 1987) was a famous Russian and Soviet theatre director.
Children's Theatre and the Lenkom
Efros was born on
3 June 1925 inKharkov . In 1954, he was appointed to run theCentral Theatre for Children inMoscow and managed to transform it from a conservative backwater into one of the most fashionable Soviet theatres.At that early period, he staged many plays by
Victor Rozov , including "Searching for Happiness" (1957), "Unequal Battle" (1960), "Before Supper" (1962). In 1963, Efros moved to theLenkom Theatre and worked there for three years. It was there that he staged another Rozov's play, "On the Wedding Day" (1964).Viña Delmar 's "Make Way for Tomorrow" was produced by him in theMossovet Theatre (1966), withFaina Ranevskaya andRostislav Plyatt in leading roles.Malaya Bronnaya Theatre
The most fruitful period of Efros's career is associated with his work in the
Malaya Bronnaya Theatre [http://mbronnaya.theatre.ru/] (1967-84). While working in that theatre, he staged a number of classical masterpieces byShakespeare andMolière .Olga Yakovleva andLev Durov were the actors he most frequently worked with.In 1978, he filmed his only movie, "On Thursday, and Never Again". This psychologically poignant drama, set in the taut atmosphere of
Chekhov 's plays, featured an impressive cast of actors, led byInnokenty Smoktunovsky .Taganka Theatre In the 1970s, Efros collaborated with the stage director
Yury Lyubimov on several projects. In 1973, for instance, he directed a TV adaptation ofMikhail Bulgakov 's play "The cabal of hypocrites", with Lyubimov in the title role ofMolière . Two years later, Lyubimov invited Efros into his ownTaganka Theatre to stage "The Cherry Orchard ".In 1984, after Lyubimov left the
Taganka Theatre for the West, Efros accepted an offer to run that theatre. Most of the actors, however, treated him as an enemy and sometimes flatly refused to cooperate with him. It is thought that the conflict with the Taganka actors contributed to Efros's premature death.External links
* [http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=160788 On Thursday, and Never Again]
* [http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/1996/10/31/031.html Gogol's "The Marriage"]
* [http://peoples.ru/art/theatre/producer/efros/ Anatoly Efros on peoples.ru]
* [http://www.ng.ru/culture/2000-06-03/7_epoch.html Article on Efros in the "Nezavisimaya Gazeta"]
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