Butler International Theatre Exchange 2004
In 2004, the International Theatre Exchange explored
contemporary Russian Theatre with Alexander Anisimov and Tamara
Anisimova.
Alexander Anisimov is an actor, director and teacher. He holds
the prestigious rank of "Honored Artist of Russia," a rank bestowed
upon him for his years of artistic excellence. He has worked as an
actor and director in St. Petersburg's Pushkin Theatre since 1976,
playing a prominent role in the development and artistic vision of
Russia's first professional theatre.
As a much sought after actor both in Russia and Europe, Anisimov
has played leading roles in plays by Russian and foreign
playwrights, including such renowned artists as Pushkin, Chekhov,
Gorky, Ibsen, Shaw, Brecht and Eduardo de Philippo. His ability to
transcend both stage and screen has given him the opportunity to
appear in over 30 movies.
Anisimov's directing and teaching talents have allowed him to
develop many of his great teacher's skills and styles and to keep
the traditions of Russian training alive. At the same time, he
seeks and experiments with new forms and styles of acting,
directing and teaching.
From 1975-1986, Anisimov was head of the dramatic studio at the
USSR Academy of Sciences. He has directed many plays in his career,
the most recent including Figeiredu's Don Juan and
Little Tragedies by Pushkin for the Austrian Drama School,
A Concert for Your Soul for the Republic of Karelia, with
his wife Tamara Anisimova, A Planet of Deviations after
works by Shakespeare, Shiller, Dostoevsky and Chekhov, Tragic
Poem after Mozart and Salieri and again, with his
wife Tamara, Mozart's Requiem and I Will Wait for
You after Dostoevsky's The Idiot.
Tamara Anisimova is a teacher, producer and choreographer at the
renowned Academy of Theatre Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia. She has
produced and staged numerous productions for the Pushkin Theatre,
the Academy of Theatre Arts, the St. Petersburg Academic Capella,
the Children's Philharmonic Theatre, and been a guest artist at
theatres throughout Russia and Europe.
Anisimova's experience is with productions of the greatest of
Russian writers-Chekhov, Ionesko, Pushkin, Dostoevsky-in innovative
staging of some of Russia's most renowned classics.
After starting life as a dancer, Anisimova went on to study
theatre and music in the St. Petersburg conservatory. During those
years, she met and worked with many prominent musicians and
choreographers. In 1992, she produced and restaged the ballet "Le
Bale" in an international collaboration in memory of George
Balanchine.
Most recently, Anisimova has produced and directed I Will
Wait for You after Dostoevsky's The Idiot, with her
husband, Alexander, English Suite, music by Portnov, with
English poetry, and Mozart's Requiem for the St.
Petersburg Academic Capella, again with her husband.