LEV DODIN (director) was born in 1944 in Siberia, where his mother was evacuated during the war. As a youth, he studied theater at the Leningrad Young Viewers’ Theatre. After high school graduation, he attended Leningrad Theatre Institute, studying with Boris Zon, a student of Stanislavsky. Dodin’s directorial debut was in 1966 with a telecast of First Love based on the story by Ivan Turgenev, followed by dozens of shows at theaters in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and internationally. They included It’s a Family Affair—We’ll Settle It Ourselves, Rosa Berndt, The Mirror, The Golovlev Family, A Gentle Creature, and Bankrupt. Opera productions he directed include Elektra for the Salzburg Festival, Mazeppa at Milan’s La Scala, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District for Florence’s May Festival, The Demon at Paris’ Châtelet, and The Queen of Spades(Amsterdam, Florence, Paris). The first work he directed for the Maly Drama Theatre was Karel Capek’s The Robber in 1974, then Abramov’s The Housein 1980. Since becoming Maly’s artistic director in 1983, his works include Brothers and Sisters, Lord of the Flies, Gaudeamaus, The Possessed, Stars in the Morning Sky, The Cherry Orchard, Chevengur, Claustrophobia, King Lear, A Play with No Name, Uncle Vanya, Life and Fate, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Long Day’s Journey into Night, Three Sisters, Portrait with the Rain, Loveand Intrigue, Enemy of the People. In 1967, Dodin began to teach acting and directing. He is a professor at the St. Petersburg Academy of Theatrical Arts and chair of the directing department. He has taught several generations of actors and directors; many are currently associated with the Maly Drama Theatre. Dodin’s productions have garnered international laurels, including the state prizes of Russia and the USSR, the Triumph Independent Prize, Golden Mask National Awards, and a Laurence Olivier Award. He received the European Theatre Award (2000) and the Russian Presidential Award (2001).