Georgy Alexandrovich Tovstonogov (Russian: Георгий Александрович Товстоногов, 28 September [O.S. 15 September] 1915 - May 23, 1989) was a Russian theatre director, the leader of Saint Petersburg Bolshoi Academic Theatre of Drama (formerly Gorky Theater), which now bears his name.
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Georgy Tovstinogov was born in Tbilisi, Russian Empire (now Georgia) on September 28, 1915, to a Russian noble and a Georgian classical singer Tamara Papitashvili.
In 1938 he graduated from State Institute of Theatrical Art in Moscow. In 1938-1946 worked as a director in Tbilisi Griboedov Theater, in 1946-1949 in Central Children's Theater in Moscow, 1950-1956 Leningrad Leninsky Komsomol Theater, since 1956 until his death in 1989 in Bolshoi Academic Gorky Theater. He was a Professor of Leningrad Institute for Theatre, Music and Cinema since 1960. In 1957 he became People's Artist of the USSR, he won Stalin Prize thrice (1950, 1952, 1956), got two Order of Lenins and many other Soviet awards. On May 23, 1989 Tovtonogov died of heart attack in his car returning home after general rehearsal of his new production The Visit by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. In 1972, he produced the book The Profession of the Stage-Director, which is the best example of his directing style, in the book he shares his honest opinions on Lee Strasberg and Konstantin Stanislavsky.
Tovstonogov was the first who returned Fyodor Dostoevsky into Soviet theater, by his productions of The Insulted and Humiliated (1956 in Leningrad Leninsky Komsomol Theater) and The Idiot (1957 in Gorky Theater).
Among other famous performances are:
and many others.
He was also responsible for producing mass spectacles.[1]
During his prime Tovstonogov was considered one the best theatre directors of Europe. The prominent members of his troupe include Alice Freindlich, Zinaida Sharko, Lyudmila Makarova, Tatiana Doronina, Svetlana Kryuchkova, Kirill Lavrov, Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Pavel Luspekaev, Yefim Kopelyan, Sergey Yursky, Vladislav Strzhelchik, Еvgeny Lebedev, and Oleg Basilashvili. His contribution to the Russian tradition of theatre education is important, especially where it comes to education of theatre directors. His theories continue to have large influence, especially in Russian and Scandinavian theatre education.