Biography
Anatoly Alexandrovitch Vasiliev (Russian: Анато́лий Алекса́ндрович Васи́льев; born May 4, 1942, in Danilovka, Penza Oblast, USSR) is a renowned Russian theatre director. He serves as the artistic director of the Moscow Theatre "School of Dramatic Arts" and Théâtre de l'Europe, and is a drama professor in Lyon, France.
Born in the Soviet Union, Vasiliev graduated from Rostov State University’s chemistry faculty. In 1973, he earned a directing degree from the State Institute of Dramatic Art (GITIS), where he began a longstanding collaboration with painter and sceneographer Igor Popov.
As a director-intern at the institute, he staged A Solo for a Clock with Chimes, which gained him recognition in Moscow theatre circles. He later directed The First Draught of Vassa Zheleznova in 1978 and The Grown Daughter of a Young Man in 1979, both at the Stanislavski Theatre. In 2010, Vasiliev launched a three-year theatre pedagogy training course based in Venice, held for two months annually. Primarily aimed at Italian professionals, the program also includes pedagogists, actors, and directors worldwide. In mid-2011, he initiated a two-year Research seminary on acting techniques at the Grotowski Institute in Wrocław, Poland, involving graduates of the Venice program and actors from various European countries. In 2016, after a seven-year hiatus, Vasiliev returned to directing with La Musica deuxième by French playwright Marguerite Duras at the Comédie-Française in Paris. He collaborated with longtime associate Natacha Isaeva, a theatre researcher and translator, and Boaz Trinker, an actor-training expert and Venice program graduate.
Vasiliev’s accolades include the Russian Stanislavsky Laureate Prize (1988), France’s Order of the Cavalier of Art and Literature (1989), the Premio Europa Nuove Realtà Teatrali at the Europe Theatre Prize in Taormina, Italy (1990), and the Chaos and Pirandello prizes in Agrigento, Italy (1992). He was named Honoured Art Worker of Russia in 1993 and received the Stanislavsky Fund Laureate Prize in 1995 for his work in theatre pedagogy. Together with Igor Popov, he earned the 1999 State Prize of Russia in Literature and Art for founding the Moscow Theatre School of Dramatic Art, as well as the National Triumph Prize in 2001. In December 2012, he was awarded Italy’s prestigious UBU award for his Island of Pedagogy project (2010–2012) in Venice. In March 2016, UNESCO’s International Theatre Institute (ITI) selected Vasiliev to deliver the address on World Theatre Day.
