28 1936 October, the
Born Roman Viktyuk — theater director, artistic director of the Viktyuk Theatre. "A master of outrageousness," "a classic of theatrical provocation."
Of two diamonds, the one with a wormhole is valued higher than the one with all the facets the same.
Was born in Lviv — Polish at the time. His parents, ethnic Ukrainians, worked as teachers. He received Soviet citizenship in 1939, after Western Ukraine was annexed by the USSR. He spoke Yiddish, Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian, easily switching between them.
Man is limitless. His very essence is limitlessness.
His interest in theater arose early—he and his classmates staged school plays, playing Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya in one. However, he enjoyed watching the process more as a director.
A person's life is predetermined, you just need to be able to decipher your heavenly code
In 1957 he graduated from the acting department of GITIS. He worked in Lviv, Kyiv, Kalinin (Tver), Vilnius. There is a story that his production of “Intrigue and Love” was seen by someone who was in the USSR at the Kalinin Drama Theatre. Mastroianni. At the end he shouted, "Genio!" (Genius!) Viktyuk, thinking he'd been called Zhenya, modestly remarked, "I'm Roman."
Art is joy, life is a nightmare. When you step on stage, nothing else exists for you. This is our only salvation.
Since the mid-70s he has been staging plays in Moscow. Some remained in theater repertoires for decades, while others were banned almost immediately after their premiere. Like, for example, "Music Lessons," based on the play Petrushevskaya — they were considered ideologically dangerous.
I can happily say that I have not staged a single one of the 156 performances that would serve the system
In 1988, he staged a production of "The Maids" at the Satirikon Theatre that caused a sensation. Bold costumes, incredible movement, and female roles played by men made Viktyuk's name known worldwide.
I understand that in any part of the world the theatre stage is my home: there is no other
He has staged around 200 productions in various theaters around the world. His Russian hits include "The Rose Tattoo," "M. Butterfly," "Lolita," and "Salome."
Roman Viktyuk's Author's Theatre received state status in 1996. The theatre's building opened in October 2016, on the director's 80th birthday.
In July 2024, 4 years after Viktyuk's death, a new artistic director Konstantin Bogomolov The theatre was renamed the Melnikov Stage (named after the building’s architect).
Thus, the name of a man whose work focused on the conflict between individual freedoms and society has become foreign in the “bonded” cultural space of modern Russia.
