Anatoly Efros - Soviet theater and film director. Biography, creativity

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

Efros Anatoly Vasilyevich (years of life - 1925-1987) - Soviet director and teacher. In 1976 he received the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR.

Origins and early years

Anatoly Vasilyevich was born in Kharkov on June 3, 1925. His family did not belong to the theatrical environment. Anatoly's parents worked at an aircraft factory. Nevertheless, the future director was fond of theater since childhood. He was interested in Stanislavsky, read about his performances. After leaving school, Anatoly Vasilyevich began to study in Moscow. He attended the studio at the theater. Moscow Council.

Study at GITIS

Efros Anatoly Vasilyevich in 1944 entered GITIS, the directing department (course of M. O. Knebel and N. V. Petrov). In 1950 he graduated from it. Diploma performance by Anatoly Vasilyevich - "Prague remains mine", created according to the prison diaries of Y. Fuchik. The choice of the master and the course turned out to be happy for Efros: Knebel, an excellent teacher and student of Stanislavsky, managed toto convey to him the ability to subtly understand the psychological theater. Throughout his life, Anatoly Vasilyevich remained an adherent of the art of "experiencing." He developed and creatively reworked Stanislavsky's system, as well as his methods of working with an actor.

First performances, work at the Central Children's Theater

Anatoly Vasilyevich staged his first performances at the Ryazan Theater, and in 1954 he took the position of chief director of the Moscow Central Children's Theater. The Central Children's Theater (today it is the Youth Theatre) under Efros began to stage performances not only for children. Young actors came here, whose names later glorified the Russian stage: O. Tabakov, O. Efremov, Lev Durov. And Anatoly Efros helped to reveal these talents. It was in the Central Children's Theater in the 1950s that the basic principles of the new theater of our country were laid.

The name of V. Rozov (pictured in the center), a playwright, is associated with an important stage in the early work of Anatoly Vasilyevich (pictured on the left), as well as Russian theater in general. Many plays by this author were staged by Efros: in 1957 - "In Search of Joy", in 1960 - "Unequal Battle", in 1962 - "Before Dinner". Later, during the work of Anatoly Vasilyevich in the Lenin Komsomol Theater, in 1964 it showed "On the Day of Glory", and in 1972 the premiere of "Brother Alyosha" by Fyodor Dostoevsky took place at the theater on Malaya Bronnaya. In the Central Children's Theater, one of the first performances of Anatoly Vasilyevich was the 1955 play "Good afternoon!" (Pink). In it, the director became very close to O. Efremov. Undoubtedly, this performance played an important role in the development of the concept of Sovremennik, the most popular Russian theater in the 1950s. It opened two years later with the play "Forever Living" by Rozov directed by Efremov. Of course, Efros can be considered one of the founders of this theater. Another evidence of this is that Anatoly Vasilyevich staged one of the first performances in Sovremennik - Nobody (E. de Filippo) with Lidia Tolmacheva and Efremov.

Efros Phenomenon

The phenomenon of Efros, which accompanied the director throughout almost his entire life (except for its final period), was that his fame was not mass and loud. Anatoly Vasilievich was not a shocking or "fashionable" director. At that time, other names thundered - O. Efremova (in the 1960s), Yu. Lyubimova (in the 1970s). They were idols (and deservedly so) of the theatrical audience of those years. However, the creative authority of Anatoly Efros among professionals (directors, actors, playwrights, critics) was very great. Of course, his performances were a success with the audience, they were watched with pleasure and loved by many. However, it was professionals who knew the theater well from the inside that could fully appreciate all the innovation and depth of Anatoly Vasilyevich's "quiet" direction. It is significant that almost all the actors who worked with Efros recalled this collaboration as real happiness. A very high level of recognition, probably the highest, - notjust become a famous director during his lifetime, but also a legend for colleagues who are usually not very prone to public rave reviews.

Natalia Krymova and Anatoly Efros

From the student bench, the great director A. Efros and the best theater expert and theater critic of the 1960-80s N. Krymova were nearby. Their union was not just a marital one, it was a powerful creative tandem that determined the fate of the Russian theater for many years. They had a son Dmitry, who became a director and theater designer.

Work in the theater. Leninist Komsomol

Anatoly Efros managed to make the CDT popular. After that, he was appointed to the theater. Lenin Komsomol chief director (in 1963). This theater was going through hard times then. Efros was supposed to return the love of the audience to him - the Department of Culture counted on this. A whole galaxy of talented actors was gathered under the banner of Anatoly Vasilyevich. Their names immediately became famous throughout the theatrical Moscow, largely thanks to such a talented director as Anatoly Efros. Both Olga Yakovleva, and A. Zbruev, and other famous artists (A. Dmitrieva, Yu. Kolychev, M. Derzhavin, A. Shirvindt, V. Larionov, L. Durov, etc.) were very popular. The audience returned to the theatre. Many performances became real events, including: 1964 "On the wedding day" and "104 pages about love", 1965 "My poor Marat" and "A movie is being shot …", 1966 - "The Seagull" and "Molière". Lyric and dramatic productionsEfros (by no means journalistic!) in modern drama (Radzinsky, Rozov, Arbuzov) were extremely accurate. They were clots of existential problems of the intelligentsia of that time, reflections on the place assigned to the individual in society. However, the classical productions of Anatoly Vasilyevich were no less relevant, and this despite the fact that there was no forced "modernization" in them. This caused discontent. Anatoly Efros was removed from the leadership of this theater in 1967.

Efros becomes the director of the theater on Malaya Bronnaya

He became the next director of the now theater on Malaya Bronnaya. However, a modest position did not prevent the fact that immediately after the arrival of Anatoly Vasilyevich, the theater began to be called the "Efros Theater". Not only for all 17 years of this director's work in it, he carried his name, but many years later. These 17 years were happy for Anatoly Efros, although difficult. The positive side of the position of the next one was that it made it possible to concentrate on one's profession as much as possible.

Efros was surrounded by an excellent troupe - some actors left Lenkom after him. Everyone who worked for Anatoly Vasilyevich considered himself his students, even those who did not study at GITIS in his courses (he taught there intermittently from 1964). V. Gaft, L. Durov, O. Yakovleva, N. Volkov, M. Shirvindt, L. Armor, L. Krugly, M. Derzhavin, O. Dahl, A. Petrenko, S. Lyubshin, E Koreneva, G. Martynyuk, G. Saifulin, M. Kanevsky. The years of cooperation with Efros have become truly stellar for many of them. Gradually, the theater, located on Malaya Bronnaya, became the center of the spiritual life of the capital - and this despite the fact that there was Taganka. The performances of Anatoly Efros sounded weighty and intelligible counterpoint to his productions. The theater director A. Efros was an artist, not a politician. His modernity echoed eternity.

Relationship with Y. Lyubimov

In the 1970s, the relationship between Efros and Lyubimy (pictured above) was corporately respectful. Anatoly Efros in 1973 staged a performance called "Just a few words in defense of Mr. de Moliere." Yu. Lyubimov played the main role in it. He, in turn, invited A. Efros to the Taganka Theater to stage the play The Cherry Orchard. Participation in it gave the Tagankov actors a new experience.

Performances based on classical and modern plays staged at the theater on Malaya Bronnaya

And performances on Malaya Bronnaya became real legends - mostly classics. "Romeo and Juliet", "Three Sisters", "Othello", "Marriage", "A Month in the Country", "Don Juan", "Brother Alyosha" - each of them was a modern and unexpected performance, in each of its participants revealed new limits of his talent. However, the Anatoly Efros Theater also refers to its serious artistic victories performances staged according to modern plays: "Tales of the Old Arbat", "HappyDays of an Unhappy Man", "Director of the Theatre", "Summer and Smoke", "A Man from the Outside", etc. Anatoly Vasilyevich worked a lot during this period on television, looking for new means of expression. He also wrote a lot, fixing reflections on the future on paper and real theatre.

Political games

Despite the fact that A. Dunaev, who worked at the theater on Malaya Bronnaya as the main director, supported him in every possible way, the performances of Efros were often banned. However, Anatoly Vasilievich tried to live, categorically avoiding and as if not noticing political games, which he considered unworthy of the theater. Efros is not a stage director. The modernity of his productions was achieved thanks to the raised problems of the moral search of the then intelligentsia, whose idol he gradually became. By the mid-70s, director Anatoly Efros began to be considered disgraced. It was not difficult to find socio-political allusions in his productions on a contemporary theme - and they were forbidden, as, for example, "The Seducer Kokobashkin". However, it was not so easy with the classics - and Anatoly Efros began to be accused of distorting it. Work on Malaya Bronnaya was the last rather calm stage of the director's career.

Hard years of work in the Taganka Theater

I. Kogan, the director of this theater, declared war on Efros in 1983. In 1984, Anatoly Vasilyevich left him. However, he did not just leave - Efros began working at the Taganka Theater as the main director, replacing Y. Lyubimov in this post. EspeciallyIt was this period of his life that became dramatic. Anatoly Vasilievich always found himself somehow drawn into political games, despite the fact that he always eschewed them. For the first time, his performances were judged by social rather than artistic criteria.

A difficult fate awaited such a director as Anatoly Efros. His biography at that time was marked by misunderstanding on the part of colleagues. The theater staff did not accept the new leader. Of course, the attitude of Yu. Lyubimov also played a role here, who considered the arrival of Efros to be a strike-breaking. Lyubimov loudly declared that his colleague committed "betrayal." Few Tagankov actors were able to cooperate with Efros - V. Smekhov, V. Zolotukhin, A. Demidova. Others declared a brutal boycott. The most incorrect methods of struggle went into action. Through the resistance of the entire troupe, the last performances of Anatoly Vasilyevich were staged - "The Cherry Orchard", "The Misanthrope", "At the Bottom", "Beautiful Sunday for a Picnic". Many participants in this conflict later said they were wrong. However, this happened much later.

Death of A. Efros

Anatoly Efros died on January 13, 1987 of a heart attack. Today, the name of Anatoly Vasilyevich has become part of the history of theatrical art of our country, along with such great names as K. S. Stanislavsky, V. E. Meyerhold, E. B. Vakhtangov, A. Ya. Tairov.