Yuri Butusov, theater director: creative path and biography

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

Theatrical directors do not often become media faces, and Yuri Butusov does not seek to get into the gossip column. He works hard, and the results of his work attract the attention of viewers and critics. The director's biography is full of professional events.

Find yourself

Yuri Butusov was born in Gatchina on October 24, 1961, in a family that had nothing to do with the theater. He considers himself a St. Petersburg man, because it is in this city that his formation and formation as an artist takes place. Yuri Butusov is a director who did not immediately find himself. He did not dream about the theater since childhood, although he studied in his youth in the studio, and he had other plans for life at school.

After graduating from school, he enters the Leningrad Shipbuilding Institute. After graduation, he does not work for long in his speci alty, the work does not bring satisfaction, Yuri tries himself in different professions, he is even seriously interested in equestrian sports. The search leads him to the very famous in Leningrad theater "Crossroads" by Veniamin Filshtinsky, and he even tries to enter the acting department, but he does not succeed. For a whole year, Butusov worked as a watchman, worked at Crossroads, and in 1991 entered the directing department of LGITMiK, in the workshop of Irina Malochevskaya, who worked with G. Tovstonogov for many years.

The director's journey

The Theater Institute not only gave Butusov his favorite profession, but also brought him together with the actors who would become the stars of his performances, at the same time Mikhail Porechenkov, Mikhail Trukhin, Andrey Zibrov and Konstantin Khabensky studied at LGITMiK. They began to cooperate in their student years, when Yuri Butusov staged the educational play "Marriage" and did his thesis work based on Beckett's play "Waiting for Godot". Later, this team will cause many years of sold out in the theater. Leningrad City Council, and the last work will bring fame and recognition to the director. For his "Godo" he will receive the "Golden Mask" and the main prize at the "Christmas Parade" festival.

There are lucky people in the theatrical world, and this is Yuri Butusov, whose biography demonstrates an almost vertical take-off. From the very first steps, the director linked his fate with the theater of the absurd, he loves Ionesco, puts Buchner, Pinter, Camus. But, growing up, he comes to understand and desire to stage the classics, under his leadership a new reading of Shakespeare, Chekhov, Bulgakov appears.

After graduation, Butusov, together with his group of actors, comes to the theater. Leningrad City Council and makes it one of the most prominent in Russia. Spectators and critics fall in love with Yuri, and he continues his search and looks for new platforms for implementation.

Having worked in St. Petersburg for several years, Yuri Butusov sets off to conquer Moscow. He is invited to the "Satyricon", where the director puts on "Macbeth" by E. Ionesco, forming a new team of actors, which then continues to cooperate with him for many years. Butusov is characterized by the perception of the theater as at home, he seeks to create a cozy family atmosphere in the troupe. During his short journey, he was able to create two such houses: in the Lensoviet Theater and in the Satyricon.

Moscow favorably welcomes the director, he is invited for productions by the best theaters: "Snuffbox", Moscow Art Theater. A. P. Chekhov, Vakhtangov, Alexandrinsky. Since 2002, he has been staging abroad: in South Korea, Norway, Bulgaria.

Butusov works very hard, releasing several performances a year, and all his works are marked by high quality, an interesting idea, outstanding actors and many directorial finds.

Best performances

Rarely when fame comes to the director after the first productions, Yuri Butusov became such a lucky one. Photos of the theatrical figure were reprinted by all the media after the release of his Woyzeck in 1997. Over 20 years of work, he staged more than 30 performances, many of which became a discovery for theatergoers. His notable works were The Good Man from Sesuan (Pushkin Theatre), Three Sisters (Lensoviet Theatre), Othello (Satyricon), The Seagull (Satyricon), King Lear ("Satyricon").

Yuri Butusov's creative method

The director demonstrates a penchant for conciseness and minimalism. He attaches great importancespace, in his stage performances there are no random objects and decorations for decoration. He plays with every thing that enters the stage: the table in Hamlet, the piano in King Lear, the tree in Godot are almost characters in the play.

Butusov always works with the viewer and for him, he tells complex stories in a simple and understandable language, involves the viewer in deep empathy and immerses in the atmosphere of the play.

His method of criticism is called "non-linear" theater, it is based on etude, associations, violation of the usual logic. Over the years, the logic of Butusov's narration becomes more and more complicated, the viewer is offered a lot of joint intellectual work on reading classic texts.

Awards and achievements

Butusov is one of those directors whom critics love, he has repeatedly received laudatory and enthusiastic reviews and awards. His portfolio includes the "Golden Mask", "Golden Soffit" - the theater award of St. Petersburg, the "Seagull" award, the award to them. K. S. Stanislavsky.

Private life

If there are closed persons in the theatrical world, then this is Yuri Butusov. The director's wife is the topic of the most frequent questions from fans of his work. But there is no information on this topic in the media. There are two versions: either Butusov is a great conspirator, or he simply does not have a wife. The second is more likely, given the director's insane working capacity and workload. It looks like he just has no time to think about the family. He tries to realize his numerouscreative plans.