Mikhail Mikhailovich Butkevich (; 10 December 1926 – 7 October 1995) was a Soviet theatre director and professor of drama at the

Russian Academy of Theatre Arts The Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS) () is the largest and oldest independent theatrical arts school in Russia. Located in Moscow, the school was founded on 22 September 1878 as the Shostakovsky Music School. It became the School of Mu ...

(GITIS). Born in

Derbent Derbent, also historically known as Darband, or Derbend, is the southernmost city in Russia. It is situated along the southeastern coast of the Dagestan, Republic of Dagestan, occupying the narrow gateway between the Caspian Sea and the Caucas ...

, Butkevich spent the first decade of his life in Prokhladny, North Caucasus. His mother, Maria Rafailovna Butkevich, was born into an aristocratic Russian family. In 1937, his parents were arrested as part of the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

; Mikhail was sent to an orphanage and then a "colony" where the "children of the enemies of the people would be re-educated." He was drafted into the Russian Army in 1945 and left four years later. After Stalin's death in 1953, Butkevich sent an official inquiry into the fate of his parents. Six months later, Butkevich, who was living

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

, was summoned to the NKVD headquarters in the city, where he was informed his mother and father were both shot in 1937, and he was "informally advised" to leave Tashkent. He then moved to Moscow to study at GITIS, studying under Maria Knebel and Alexei Popov. He became the teacher of many award-winning contemporary Russian directors and actors and an author of a recently published book on the methodology of theatre education titled ''Towards the Theatre of Play''. As a theorist of theatrical production, Butkevich advocated respect for the author, clear identification of the central conflict, nuanced interpretation of the author's intentions, while striving for a new, fresh imagining of the work.Harley Erdman, Susan Paun de García (eds.)
''Remaking the Comedia: Spanish Classical Theater in Adaptation''
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References

External links

"Mikhail Butkevich: the bridge to the contemporary Russian avant-garde"
in ''Stanislavski Studies: Practice, Legacy, and Contemporary Theater'', Volume 4, 2016 - Issue 2 {{DEFAULTSORT:Butkevich, Mikhail 1926 births 1995 deaths Soviet drama teachers People from Derbent Soviet acting theorists Soviet theatre directors Theatre practitioners Russian Academy of Theatre Arts alumni