Lev Dodin: biography and performances

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Lev Abramovich Dodin… This name is well known in theater circles. An outstanding director, talented teacher and theatrical figure, he is one of the creative elite of Russia. You can learn about him and his works from this article.

Childhood and youth of the future director

Lev Dodin was born on May 14, 1944 in the city of Stalinsk, today it is Novokuznetsk. It was here that his parents were evacuated during the war. They returned to their native Leningrad in 1945.

From an early age, Lev began attending classes at the city Theater of Youth Creativity. At that time, the wonderful teacher M. G. Dubrovin was the leader here. Under his influence, the young Lev Dodin had a strong desire to devote his life to the theater. After graduating from school, Lev Dodin becomes a student at the State Institute of Theater, Cinematography and Music of the Northern Capital. His teacher and mentor was the outstanding director B. Zon. Dodin Lev Abramovich also calls Tovstonogov, Lyubimov, Efros his teachers.

First directorial steps

Lev Dodin, whose life and fate after graduation were entirely connected with the theater, began to exercise his directorialideas.

His debut as a director coincided with the release year. So, the year 1966 was marked in the creative biography of Lev Dodin with the release of the television play "First Love" based on I. Turgenev. This was followed by work in the Leningrad Theater for Young Spectators. Here he staged the play "Our people - we will settle" according to A. N. Ostrovsky. His "Undergrowth" and "Rosa Berndt" were released at the Drama and Comedy Theater.

Maly Drama Theater in the fate of the director

In 1975, the Maly Drama Theater appeared in the life of Lev Dodin. At first, the director simply collaborated with this temple of Melpomene. He staged the play "The Robber" by K. Chapek. Later, "The Appointment" by A. Volodin, "The Tattooed Rose" by T. Williams, "Live and Remember" appeared.

Fateful for Dodin was the play "The House" based on the novel by F. Abramov, released in 1980. After this production in 1983, Lev Dodin received an offer to head the theater. Since then, and to this day, he has been the permanent head of the MDT. His first work as a chief director was the play "Brothers and Sisters". The production was difficult to break through the millstones of censorship. However, thanks to the performances "House" and "Brothers and Sisters", those artistic foundations were formed that today make up such a thing as the Lev Dodin Theater.

King Lear", "Love under the Elms", "Chevengur", "Life and Fate","Claustrophobia", "Molly Sweeney", "Love's Labour's Lost" and more, too many to list.

The theater's repertoire includes many performances based on the works of A. P. Chekhov, who has always been of interest to Dodin. These are the famous "The Cherry Orchard", "Uncle Vanya", "The Seagull", "The play without a title".

Teaching activities

The original artist, the unsurpassed creator of theatrical shocking Lev Dodin, whose performances in the genre and style format almost defiantly differ from one another, is nevertheless essentially a consistent traditionalist.

All his ideas that he embodies on stage are the result of personal, individual reflection. He passes everything through himself, always experiencing a great spiritual need for knowledge. This is probably why quite early Lev Dodin experienced an irresistible desire and the need to transfer his accumulated spiritual experience to someone else. And, as a result, since 1969 he began teaching at the Academy of Theater Arts in St. Petersburg. Today he is a professor at the Academy and heads the department of directing. Most of the training for actors, directors, according to his method, takes place in the theater. Dodin did not repeat literally any of his teachers. He has his own Stanislavsky, Meyerhold, Dubrovin, Zon, Strehler…

The performances staged by Dodin go on for many years without losing their relevance, they, together with the changing world, are filled with new meaning. His numerous students remain such throughout almost his entire creative biography. Among them -Maria Nikiforova, Vladimir Zakhariev, Pyotr Semak, Oleg Gayanov, Igor Konyaev, Sergey Bekhterev, Tatyana Shestakova, Sergey Vlasov, Vladimir Tumanov, Natalia Kromina, Vladimir Seleznev, Nikolay Pavlov, Andrey Rostovsky, Leonid Alimov and others who worked and continue to work with a master in MDT. However, there are many who remain his students outside the theater, being adherents of the Dodinsk school.

Lev Abramovich conducts regular master classes in various theater schools in Europe, as well as in Japan and the USA. He is a member of the jury of the Northern Palmyra literary competition, as well as one of the jury members of the St. Petersburg theater award "Golden Soffit".

Dodin method

The work of this wonderful director, the school he created does not leave anyone indifferent. It has a phenomenal power of attraction. In his creative laboratory, much attention is paid to the word. Lev Dodin embodies all his intentions, ideas, impulses through an expressive and always original word. He has something to say to his students, so Dodin's monologues can go on for hours.

His method is entirely aimed at creating a theatrical whole. He has his own philosophical understanding of what theater is. He always fought for the Theater-house, Theater-family. Lev Dodin devoted his whole life to creating such a scene. According to the Dodinskaya model, the theater is a collective artist who has a single collective soul. According to Lev Abramovich, it is only in the Theater-Dom that one can create a performance that is the product of a great culture.

His creativeexperiments, directorial productions are interesting to the viewer. The small size of the theater does not always accommodate all those who wish to attend its performances.

The world's most famous productions of the director

Lev Dodin, whose photos constantly appear in the media and publications on relevant topics, is the author of more than sixty opera and drama performances that have been successful on various world stages. The most famous of them are “Bankrupt”, staged at the Finnish National Theatre, “Electra” and “Salome” by R. Strauss, “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District”, “Gentlemen Golovlevs”, “The Meek” at the Moscow Art Theater, “The Queen of Spades”, "Mazepa", "Demon" by A. Rubinstein. Opera performances were created by him in collaboration with outstanding conductors: Mstislav Rostropovich, Claudio Abbado, James Conlon and others.

Awards and titles

Lev Dodin is a People's Artist of Russia, a laureate of state awards of the USSR and the Russian Federation, the award of the President of the Russian Federation. His performances and theatrical activities have been marked by a number of Russian and international awards. In 1994, he was awarded the French Order of Literature and Art.