Three Sisters

Founded in 1898 by Konstantin Stanislavsky, Vladimir I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. The the­atre was established on the threshold of the twentieth century as an expression of protest against the routine which had been reigning on both the imperial and provincial Russian stage. There were quite a number of great tal­ented actors but the life of the theatre was limited by its own work and this led to the clichés of acting as well as to the unchanging response of the audience. It is pertinent to quote here the comment of Pavel Markov, an outstanding actor of the MKHAT who for many years was in charge of literary depart­ment and was a famous Russian drama critic. He wrote: «The Art Theatre reformed the the­atre on the whole embracing all sides of its activities». It is already clear now and it is not an exaggeration that the 20th century in the Russian and world theatre has been dominat­ed by the activities of the MKHAT.

Oleg Yefremov is one of the most influential and admired directors and actors of Russia. His artistic endeavors have spanned across theatre and film for nearly half of a century, creating over 70 feature film roles in addition to his numerous stage productions. Yefremov graduated from the Moscow Art Theatre School in 1949 and quickly became a teacher there. In 1956, with friends and pupils, Yefremov founded the Sovremennik (Contemporary) Theatre. In 1970, he became Artistic Director of the Moscow Art Theatre and has since led the company for over 3 decades, staging more than 40 productions, and participating as an actor in 14 of them. In 1976, Yefremov started his Chekhov cycle, with Ivanov, followed by The Seagull (1980), Uncle Vanya (1985) and Three Sisters (1997).