Robert Sturua (Georgian: რრáƒ'áƒ"რტ სტურურ; born
31 July 1938, Tbilisi) is a Georgian theater director, who gained
international acclaim for his original interpretation of the works of
Brecht, Shakespeare, and Chekhov. He was based at the Shota Rustaveli
Dramatic Theater in Tbilisi, and has staged productions throughout the
world.Sturua was born into an artistic family. His father, Robert, was
a notable painter, whose works are part of the permanent exposition at
the Tbilisi Art Museum. Mr Sturua is married to Dudana Kveselava, an
art historian and an artist in her own right and daughter of Mikhail
Kveselava, an accomplished philologist, writer and philosopher, who
served as a translator at the Nuremberg trials.Sturua studied under
Mikhail Tumanishvili at the Tbilisi State Theater Institute.
Graduating in 1961, he began his career at the Shota Rustaveli
Theater, where he became principal director in 1979 and principal
artistic director in 1982. His first success came with staging of The
Trial of Salem by Arthur Miller in 1965 (original title: The
Crucibles). Later, Sturua mounted spectacular, offbeat productions of
The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht (1975), Richard III
(London and Edinburgh, 1979â€"80) and King Lear (New York, 1990),
starring comic actor Ramaz Chkhikvadze. Starting with interpretations
of Richard III and King Lear, Sturua became known as paradoxical
interpreter of Shakespeare’s theater. Out of 37 Shakespeare plays,
Sturua has staged 17; 5 of which at Rustaveli. Hamlet (1986) was
staged for the Riverside Studio in London with Alan Rickman as Hamlet,
and was hailed as one of ten best Shakespearian productions of the
last 50 years by Shakespeare International Association.[citation
needed]In the 1990s, Sturua's productions turned to the inner world.
Works included Life is a Dream by Calderón (1992), The Good Person of
Szechwan by Brecht (1993), Gospel According to Jacob (1995, based on
the Georgian ABC Book by Iakob Gogebashvili), Lamara by Grigol
Robakidze (1996). Sturua's dialogue with the audience acquired an even
more philosophical tone and focused more on thoughts of eternity, and
on the fine line between life and death. The metaphorical language of
more recent interpretations is palpably more poetic and includes the
fantasy "Styx", inspired by the music of Giya Kancheli (2002); two new
versions of Hamlet staged in Tbilisi (2001, 2006); and Waiting for
Godot (2002).
31 July 1938, Tbilisi) is a Georgian theater director, who gained
international acclaim for his original interpretation of the works of
Brecht, Shakespeare, and Chekhov. He was based at the Shota Rustaveli
Dramatic Theater in Tbilisi, and has staged productions throughout the
world.Sturua was born into an artistic family. His father, Robert, was
a notable painter, whose works are part of the permanent exposition at
the Tbilisi Art Museum. Mr Sturua is married to Dudana Kveselava, an
art historian and an artist in her own right and daughter of Mikhail
Kveselava, an accomplished philologist, writer and philosopher, who
served as a translator at the Nuremberg trials.Sturua studied under
Mikhail Tumanishvili at the Tbilisi State Theater Institute.
Graduating in 1961, he began his career at the Shota Rustaveli
Theater, where he became principal director in 1979 and principal
artistic director in 1982. His first success came with staging of The
Trial of Salem by Arthur Miller in 1965 (original title: The
Crucibles). Later, Sturua mounted spectacular, offbeat productions of
The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht (1975), Richard III
(London and Edinburgh, 1979â€"80) and King Lear (New York, 1990),
starring comic actor Ramaz Chkhikvadze. Starting with interpretations
of Richard III and King Lear, Sturua became known as paradoxical
interpreter of Shakespeare’s theater. Out of 37 Shakespeare plays,
Sturua has staged 17; 5 of which at Rustaveli. Hamlet (1986) was
staged for the Riverside Studio in London with Alan Rickman as Hamlet,
and was hailed as one of ten best Shakespearian productions of the
last 50 years by Shakespeare International Association.[citation
needed]In the 1990s, Sturua's productions turned to the inner world.
Works included Life is a Dream by Calderón (1992), The Good Person of
Szechwan by Brecht (1993), Gospel According to Jacob (1995, based on
the Georgian ABC Book by Iakob Gogebashvili), Lamara by Grigol
Robakidze (1996). Sturua's dialogue with the audience acquired an even
more philosophical tone and focused more on thoughts of eternity, and
on the fine line between life and death. The metaphorical language of
more recent interpretations is palpably more poetic and includes the
fantasy "Styx", inspired by the music of Giya Kancheli (2002); two new
versions of Hamlet staged in Tbilisi (2001, 2006); and Waiting for
Godot (2002).
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