Anatoly Efros

Anatoly Vasilievich Efros (Russian: Анато́лий Васи́льевич Э́фрос; June 3, 1925, Kharkiv—January 13, 1987, Moscow) was a famous Russian and Soviet theatre director.

Children's Theatre and the Lenkom

Efros was born in Kharkiv. In 1954, he was appointed to run the Central Theatre for Children in Moscow 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 Rozov's play, 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 [1] (1967-84). While working in that theatre, he staged a number of classical masterpieces by Shakespeare and Molière. Olga Yakovleva and Lev Durov were the actors he most frequently worked with.

In 1978, he filmed his only 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's play The cabal of hypocrites, with Lyubimov in the title role of Molière. Two years later, Lyubimov invited Efros into his own Taganka Theatre to stage The Cherry Orchard.

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.