Anatoly Vasilievich Efros (; July 3, 1925,

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

– January 13, 1987,

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

) was a Soviet theatre and film director. He was a leading interpreter of Russian classics during the

Era of Stagnation The "Era of Stagnation" (, or ) is a term coined by Mikhail Gorbachev in order to describe the negative way in which he viewed the economic, political, and social policies of the Soviet Union that began during the rule of Leonid Brezhnev (1964 ...

and "received numerous awards for creative excellence". His writings on theatre were published in English under the titles ''The Joy of Rehearsal: Reflections on Interpretation and Practice'' () and ''The Craft of Rehearsal: Further Reflections on Interpretation and Practice'' ().

Children's Theatre and the Lenkom

Efros was born in

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

. In 1954, he was appointed to run the Central Theatre for Children in

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 the Lenkom Theatre and worked there for three years. It was there that he staged another of Rozov's plays, ''On the Wedding Day'' (1964). Viña Delmar's ''Make Way for Tomorrow'' was produced by him in the Mossovet Theatre (1966), with Faina Ranevskaya and Rostislav 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 (1967–84). While working in that theatre, he attracted the crowds of Moscow

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

to his impeccably acted productions of Chekhov's ''Three Sisters'' (1967), Moliere's ''Don Juan'' (1974), and Gogol's ''The Marriage'' (1974). The Communist authorities did not fail to detect a note of discontent in his interpretations of classics and moved to shut them down. Olga Yakovleva and Lev Durov were the actors he most frequently worked with. In 1978, he filmed his fifth and final 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 by Innokenty 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 of

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( ; rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel ''The M ...

's play ''The Cabal of Hypocrites'', with Lyubimov in the title role of

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

. Two years later, Lyubimov invited Efros into his own Taganka Theatre to stage ''

The Cherry Orchard ''The Cherry Orchard'' () is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by '' Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate edition later that year in Saint Petersburg, via A.F. Marks Pu ...

''. Both directors were drawn to the traditions of Vsevolod Meyerhold and Yevgeny Vakhtangov. 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.

References

External links

Website dedicated to Anatoly Efros
{{DEFAULTSORT:Efros 1925 births 1987 deaths Burials at Kuntsevo Cemetery Academic staff of High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Russian Academy of Theatre Arts alumni Soviet theatre directors Soviet film directors Soviet Jews