Ginkas, Kama

Kama Ginkas, People’s Artist of Russia and director, was born in Lithuania in 1941. He graduated from the Georgy Tovstonogov’s directing class at the Leningrad State Institute of Music and Cinema (LGITMiK) in 1967.

His first professional debut was in Riga, Latvia where he staged The Reunion by Victor Rozov. For two years he headed up the Young Spectators in Krasnoyarsk. There he staged Hamlet by Shakespeare, 451° Fahrenheit by R.Bradbery, and others. On coming back to Leningrad, he directed The Monologue about Marriage by Edvard Radzinsky, Tennessee Williams’s Kingdom of Earth, Looking like a lion by Ibragimbekov and his own play Pushkin and Natalie.

Ginkas has been working in Moscow since 1981. During his time in Moscow he directed The Carriage written by Nina Pavlova. and The Toastmaster by Alexander Galin in the Moscow Art Theatre, Five Corners by Sergei Kokovkin and Hedda Gabler by Ibsen in the Mossovet Theatre, The Blond by Volodin in the Mayakovsky Theatre, The Room of Laughter by Bogaev in the Moscow Tabakov Theatre. Such outstanding actors like Innokenti Smoktunovsky, Sergei Yurskii, Alexander Kollyagin and others are performing in his productions.

In 1988 Ginkas started working with the Young Spectators Theatre, Moscow (MTYuZ) where he has staged Notes from the Underground,We Play “Crime”, K.I. from “Crime” (all based on works by Fyodor Dostoevsky), his own dramatization, The Execution of the Decembrists (1996), The Golden Cockcrow by Pushkin (1998), Pushkin. Duel. Death. (1999), The Black Monk by Chekhov (1999) , The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde (2000), The Lady with the Lapdog by Chekhov (2001), Rothschild’s Fiddle by Chekhov (2004), The Ridiculous Poem by Fyodor Dostoevsky (2006), Roberto Zucco by Koltes (2007)

Kama Ginkas also staged The Poliphony of the World in the Third Theatre Olympics in Moscow in 2001. Such world’s known stars like Gidon Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica, Les Percussions de Strasbourg, musical artists from the USA, Australia, Germany, Russia, Armenia are performing in this production. Ginkas’s productions have frequently taken part in international festivals in Germany, France (Avignon –1997), Italy, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Yugoslavia, Turkey, South Korea, Brazil, Colombia and other countries.

His most famous productions abroad are: Kobekin’s opera N.F.B. (Germany), Chekhov’s The Lady with the Lapdog (Turkey), Chekhov’s Ward No. 6, Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot and Crime and Punishment, Chekhov’s The Seagull, and Life is Beautiful (based on stories by Chekhov), Shakespeare’s Macbeth (Finland), Chekhov’s The Lady with the Lapdog (Yale Repertory Theater and the theater «Guthrie» USA).

Kama Ginkas is the author (with the participation of John Freedman) of the book “Provoking Theatre. Kama Ginkas directs” (USA, 2003, “Smith and Kraus”).

Kama Ginkas was awarded the State Prize of Russia, the Golden Mask national theater prize, Crystal Turandot for Achievement in Culture, The Mikhail Tumanishvili Prize for Perfection in Art .

Kama Ginkas is a professor at the Swedish Academy in Helsinki, Finland and a professor of the Moscow Art Theatre Studio . He was invited to lecture and lead workshops in many theatre schools and Universities of England, USA, Canada, France, Norway and Finland. In 1998 Kama Ginkas headed the actors/ directors laboratory in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (England).

Directed Performances:

• 1964 Friedrich Dürrenmatt "Night Talk with the person who despises" Leningrad Palace of Arts. Artist K.Ginkas
• 1967 V.Rozov "Traditional gathering" Riga theater of Russian drama. Artist Feoktistov
• 1968 Maxim Gorky "Recent" Leningrad Theatre on Foundry. Artist E.Kochergin
• 1969 L.Malyugin "Nesmeshlivoe my happiness" (co-production with R.S.Agamirzyanom) Theatre. Komissarzhevskaya Leningrad. Artist E.Kochergin
• 1970 R.Bredberi "Fahrenheit 451" Theatre for Young People, Krasnoyarsk. Artist V.Zhuyko
• 1971 V.Astafev "Theft" (co-production with L.Stukalovym) Theatre for Young People, Krasnoyarsk. Artist V.Zhuyko
• 1971 W. Shakespeare "Hamlet" Theatre for Young People, Krasnoyarsk. Artist E.Kochergin
• 1972 Gaidar "The fate of drummer" Theatre for Young People, Krasnoyarsk. Artist E.Kochergin
• 1973 E. Radzinsky "Monologue about Marriage" Comedy Theatre, Leningrad. Artist E.Kochergin R.Ibragimbekov 1974 "like a lion" Leningrad Theatre on Foundry. Artist E.Kochergin
• 1976 G.Polonsky "The drama of the lyrics" Leningrad Theatre on Foundry. Artist E.Kochergin
• 1976 "Yes, my love, it happens," Leningrad Theatre on Foundry. Artist m.Kitai
• 1977 Y.Drutse "Holy of Holies" Riga theater of Russian drama. Artist M.Frenkel
• 1978 T.Williams "earthly kingdom" Leningrad Theatre on Foundry. Artist E.Kochergin K.Ginkas
• 1979 - the author of the play "Pushkin and Natalie"
• 1980 Piece G.Yanovskoy By M.Tvenu "The Extraordinary Adventures of TS And GF "Drama Theatre Vladivostok. Artist N.Bahvalova
• 1981 S.Kokovkin "Five Corners" Mossovet Theater, Moscow. Artist A.Kozhenkova
• 1982 N.Pavlova "Gypsy Caravan" MAT Moscow. Artist E.Kochergin
• 1983 H. Ibsen "Hedda Gabler" Mossovet Theater, Moscow. Artist S.Barhin
• 1984 A. Volodin, "Blonde" GITIS Moscow. Artist K.Ginkas
• 1985 A. Volodin, "Blonde" Mayakovsky Theatre, Moscow. Artist K.Ginkas
• 1986 A.Galin "Tamada" Moscow Art Theatre, Moscow. Artist D.Borovsky
• 1988 Piece K.Ginkasa by Dostoevsky "Notes from Underground" Moscow Theatre for Young People. Artist A.Yatsovskis
• 1989 Piece K.Ginkasa for "Chamber №6" Chekhov "Theatre guard Nikita" Lila Theatre, Helsinki, Finland. Artist D.Borovsky
• 1990 Piece K.Ginkasa on Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" Lila Theatre, Helsinki, Finland. Artist D.Borovsky
• 1991 Piece K.Ginkasa by Dostoevsky "Play" Crime "Moscow Theatre for Young People. Artist K.Ginkas
• 1993 Piece K.Ginkasa on Dostoevsky's "The Idiot" Swedish Theatre Academy, Helsinki, Finland. Artist S.Barhin
• 1993 Anton Chekhov "Life is Beautiful" Istanbul, Turkey. Artist S.Barhin
• 1994 D.Gink by Dostoevsky "KI of "Crimes" Moscow Theatre for Young People K.Ginkas
• 1994 Anton Chekhov "Life is Beautiful" Lila Theatre, Helsinki, Finland. S.Barhin
• 1995 V.Kobekin Opera "N.F.B" G.Lokum, Germany. Artist S.Barhin
• 1995 K.Ginkas "The execution of the Decembrists" Moscow Theatre for Young People. Artist K.Ginkas
• 1996 Anton Chekhov "The Seagull" Swedish Theatre Academy, Helsinki, Finland. Artist S.Barhin
• 1997 W. Shakespeare "Macbeth" Municipal Theatre of Helsinki, Finland. Artist S.Barhin
• 1998 Alexander Pushkin "The Golden Cockerel" Moscow Theatre for Young People. Artists A.Glebova, S.Arhipova
• O.Bogaev 1998 "The room of laughter" Studio Theatre n / p Tabakov. Artist S.Barhin
• 1998 Chekhov's "The Black Monk" Moscow Theatre for Young People. Artist S.Barhin
• 1999 K.Ginkas "Pushkin.Duel.Smert" Moscow Theatre for Young People. Artist K.Ginkas
• 1999 Pushkin telefilm "Count Nulin"
• 2000 Wilde "The Happy Prince" Moscow Theatre for Young People. Artist S.Barhin
• 2001 Anton Chekhov "The Lady with the Dog" Moscow Theatre for Young People. Artist S.Barhin
• 2001 Mystery of "Polyphony of the world." Composer Alexander Bakshi. Artist S. Barkhin
• 2003 Anton Chekhov "Lady with the Dog» ART Cambridge (USA. The artist S. Barkhin
• 2003 "Dreams of exile" Moscow Theatre for Young People. Artist M. Mitrofanov.
• 2004 Anton Chekhov "The Lady with the Dog" Guthrie Theater, United States, Minneapolis. Artist S.Barhin
• 2004 Anton Chekhov "Rothschild's Fiddle" Moscow Theatre for Young People. Artist S.Barhin
• 2006 Dostoevsky "absurd poemka" Moscow Theatre for Young People. Artist S.Barhin
• 2007 Anton Chekhov "The Seagull" in Seoul, Korea. Artist A.Votyakov
• 2007 B.-M. Koltes "Roberto Zucco" Moscow Theatre for Young People. Artist S.Barhin
• 2009 Seneca, Zh.Anuy "Medea" Moscow Theatre for Young People. Artist S.Barhin
• 2010 Nikolai Gogol "Diary of a Madman" Moscow Theatre for Young People. Artist S.Barhin
• 2011 Ibsen "Hedda Gabler" Alexandrinsky Theatre. Artist S. Barkhin
• 2012 W. Shakespeare "Shakespeare's Clowns" Moscow Theatre for Young People. Artist S.Barhin
• 2012 A.Rapp "Nocturne" Moscow Theatre for Young People.
• 2013 N.Leskov "Lady Macbeth of our district" Moscow Theatre for Young People. Artist S.Barhin
• 2014 E. Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Moscow Theatre for Young People.