Biography
Zurab Nanobashvili was born in 1969 in Tbilisi, Georgia. Graduated from the Faculty of Directing of the Shota Rustaveli Tbilisi Theater Institute, course of USSR public artists - L. Ioseliani and G. Sikharulidze. Trained in Italy with Giorgio Streler at PICCOLO TEATRO DI MILANO.
Ханума. Ивановский музыкальный театр.
The graduation performance "The Thirteenth Star" was staged by Zurab Nanobashvili in Ivanovo Drama Theater. And from 1996 to 2001 he worked there as an artistic director, and then as a chief director. During the five years of his work in Ivanovo, he staged several bright performances, including "I'm bored, Devil ..." (based on the small tragedies of A.S. Pushkin) and "Holiday of Solitude" (V. Korostylev). Both of these productions were successfully held in Vologda at the International Festival "Voices of History" and were awarded diplomas (1999 and 2001). He collaborated with the Ivanovo Musical Theater, where he staged "Khanuma" ("Golden Mask" 1998, diploma), "The Merry Widow" and the musical "Aladdin".
In 2001, Zurab Nanobashvili was invited to the Vologda Drama Theater as an artistic director. Having joined a team with a long history and established traditions, he managed to establish personal and creative contacts with the troupe and other theater employees. Thanks to the productive activity of the collective under the leadership of Zurab Nanobashvili, leading critics became interested in the theater, the Russian theatrical community began talking about stage successes. And now the Vologda State Drama Theater rightfully occupies one of the leading places in the theatrical space of Russia.
On the Vologda stage, Zurab Nanobashvili has produced more than 40 performances of different genres and brought to life complex staging ideas. In his work, he most often refers to classical Russian and foreign plays, on the basis of which he creates sharp, deep, modern performances, carefully preserving the text, the plot and the main problems of the work. Plays by A. N. Ostrovsky were presented on the stage of the Vologda Drama Theater in different years: "Balzaminov, Balzaminov!.." (2002), "Enough for any wise man" (2005), "Profitable Place" (2009), "Thunderstorm" (2012); W. Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (2003,), "Macbeth" (2006), "Hamlet" (2012), "Richard II" (2014) J.B. Moliere's "Tartuffe" (2008), "Don Juan" (2013); A.S. Griboyedov's "Woe from Wit" (2014); B. Brecht's "Fear and War" (2015); M. Bulgakov's "Moliere" (2017).
In 2001, Zurab Nanobashvili was invited to the Vologda Drama Theater as an artistic director. Having joined a team with a long history and established traditions, he managed to establish personal and creative contacts with the troupe and other theater employees. Thanks to the productive activity of the collective under the leadership of Zurab Nanobashvili, leading critics became interested in the theater, the Russian theatrical community began talking about stage successes. And now the Vologda State Drama Theater rightfully occupies one of the leading places in the theatrical space of Russia.
On the Vologda stage, Zurab Nanobashvili has produced more than 40 performances of different genres and brought to life complex staging ideas. In his work, he most often refers to classical Russian and foreign plays, on the basis of which he creates sharp, deep, modern performances, carefully preserving the text, the plot and the main problems of the work. Plays by A. N. Ostrovsky were presented on the stage of the Vologda Drama Theater in different years: "Balzaminov, Balzaminov!.." (2002), "Enough for any wise man" (2005), "Profitable Place" (2009), "Thunderstorm" (2012); W. Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (2003,), "Macbeth" (2006), "Hamlet" (2012), "Richard II" (2014) J.B. Moliere's "Tartuffe" (2008), "Don Juan" (2013); A.S. Griboyedov's "Woe from Wit" (2014); B. Brecht's "Fear and War" (2015); M. Bulgakov's "Moliere" (2017).
Created based on the works of classics, the performances develop a single director's idea about the formation of an integral system of moral foundations and values necessary for the preservation of Russian and world culture. In each of Z. Nanobashvili's performances, we see the firm handwriting of a professional, a director who equally overpowers both - comedies and tragedies. Performances are always thought out to the smallest detail: an accurate development of the characters of the personages, a vivid scenography and plastic image of the performance, an original musical structure. All this in general determines the result - a conceptually verified complex stage action, always accessible to the perception of viewer.
Z. Nanobashvili is a brilliant interpreter of Shakespeare's tragedies: the performances "Macbeth" (2006), "Hamlet" (2012) and "Richard II" (2014) about the destruction of the house, the rupture of family ties, the change of dynasty. But if Hamlet pays with his life for the destruction of his family and the ruin of the house of Polonius, having managed to take sophisticated revenge, then Richard acts more like an innocent victim who redeemed sins by crucifixion on the cross. Vladimir Speshkov in the article "Voices of history - Saints and Passion-bearers" reflects on the symbolism of the play "Richard II": "The theme of top and bottom, earth and air, actions and feelings, will and submission ... The man of the air, the man-victim in this play is Richard II (the director straightens his story, as he is not very interested in the vices and mistakes of the former king, he is primarily a victim, a passion-bearer), and the man of the earth, the man of action is Henry Bolingbroke, the future Henry IV. The story is told clearly, there are many associations with historical characters of different times and peoples (I remembered our passion-bearer Nicholas II), the choice of actors for the roles of antagonists is very accurate".
Z. Nanobashvili is a brilliant interpreter of Shakespeare's tragedies: the performances "Macbeth" (2006), "Hamlet" (2012) and "Richard II" (2014) about the destruction of the house, the rupture of family ties, the change of dynasty. But if Hamlet pays with his life for the destruction of his family and the ruin of the house of Polonius, having managed to take sophisticated revenge, then Richard acts more like an innocent victim who redeemed sins by crucifixion on the cross. Vladimir Speshkov in the article "Voices of history - Saints and Passion-bearers" reflects on the symbolism of the play "Richard II": "The theme of top and bottom, earth and air, actions and feelings, will and submission ... The man of the air, the man-victim in this play is Richard II (the director straightens his story, as he is not very interested in the vices and mistakes of the former king, he is primarily a victim, a passion-bearer), and the man of the earth, the man of action is Henry Bolingbroke, the future Henry IV. The story is told clearly, there are many associations with historical characters of different times and peoples (I remembered our passion-bearer Nicholas II), the choice of actors for the roles of antagonists is very accurate".
"Бальзаминов! Бальзаминов!.."
Премьера спектакля, 2003 год
The undoubted merit of Zurab Nanobashvili is a significant reformation of the stage space of the Vologda Drama Theater, which makes it possible to more fully reveal the creative potential of the acting troupe, including the young cast. Every year the popularity of performances on the small and chamber stages of the theater, opened on his initiative, increases. Zurab Nanobashvili has the idea of creating several outdoor stage venues: a stage in the Bishop's Garden, in the park, a unique stage on the roof of the theater, independent stage structures inscribed in the architecture of the Vologda Kremlin. The performances "Karamazov and Hell" (2007), "Richard II" (2014), "The Holy Monastery" (2016), held within the walls of the Vologda Kremlin, were awarded by the jury of the International Theater Festival "Voices of History". Z. Nanobashvili was also repeatedly awarded the A. Semenov Prize for the successful development of the historical and architectural space by means of the theater. Theater critic Kapitolina Koksheneva writes about the play "The Holy Monastery" as follows: "Zurab Nanobashvili created a special performance, implanting it into the historical and cultural space of the Bishop's Garden. The play "The Holy Monastery" immediately acquired a special artistic status, in which the place itself ("the dictatorship of space") takes on the function of a "performer" almost on a par with an actor – at least from an actor it also required a special psychophysical state based on "naturalness", inaccessible in a box scene. <...> The director dared to think spatially and symbolically. He dared to actualize the Russian Middle Ages (the stone walls, which became the historical "decoration" of the play, were erected in 1671-1675) for Vologda viewers." In 2017, the collective of the creators of the "Holy Monastery" was awarded the state (state youth) awards of the Vologda region in the field of culture and art.
During the period of Zurab Nanobashvili's work as artistic director, the Vologda Drama Theater became the laureate of the International Theater Festival "Voices of History" six times. In 2004, the theater took part in the VI All-Russian theater festival "Ostrovsky in the Ostrovsky House" (Small (Maly) Theater, Moscow) and received a diploma of the festival for the performance "Balsaminov, Balsaminov!..". From 2007 to 2009, the theater visited the shows in Moscow ("Arbat meetings" organized by the Central House of the Actor named after Yablochkina, "In a good way! Young forces of art. Moscow - Volga Region" - the final stage of the X International Television and Theater Festival), Belgorod (VII All-Russian Theater Festival "Actors of Russia to Mikhail Shchepkin"), Taganrog (International Theater Festival "In Chekhov's Homeland").
The theater also toured Moscow (Days of the Vologda Region in Moscow), St. Petersburg (Lensovet St. Petersburg State Academic Theater), Nizhny Novgorod (Gorky Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Drama Theater), as well as in large cities of the Vologda region (Cherepovets, Veliky Ustyug).
A special place in the creative activity of the collective is occupied by foreign tours, the organization and quality of which is an undoubted achievement of the artistic director Z. Nanobashvili. After a thirty-year break, in 2008 the theater went abroad for the first time and presented the performances "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Winter" in Helsinki, Finland. And in 2009, the premiere of the play "Women. Fragment" took place at the IV International Theater Festival "Meetings in Odessa" (Ukraine). With the play "The Holiday of solitude. (Pirosmani)" the theater visited Slovakia at a theater festival. And in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, the Russian Center for Science and Culture hosted a presentation dedicated to the history of the Vologda Drama Theater.
From January 2010 to August 2012, Zurab Nanobashvili simultaneously headed the Cherepovets Municipal Chamber Theater. From September 2012 to February 2014, he combined the position of chief director at the Ivanovo Regional Drama Theater. As an invited director, he staged two dozen performances in different cities of Russia and abroad.
Z.A. Nanobashvili always takes an active part in public life. In 2014, he was a member of the jury of the M. A. Kulikovsky regional festival "Kuban Theater", became a member of the jury of the First Open Documentary film Festival about music - MusicDocFest (2016), was invited to the jury of the All-Russian Festival of Television Films "Man and Faith" (2016), was a member of the jury of the XIII International Festival "Slavic Theatrical Meetings" in Gomel (2017), was a member of the organizing committee for the preparation of the International Theater Festival "Voices of History". In 2014, Z. Nanobashvili took part in the round table meeting "Theater in the modern world. Place. Role. Mission" within the framework of the St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum as a speaker. In his speech, he paid attention to the conditions and problems of the provincial theater, its isolation and self-sufficiency, as well as the relationship between the theater and the state.
For a special contribution to the development of Vologda culture, Z.A. Nanobashvili was awarded the badge "For Services to Vologda" (2014). On May 3, 2018, by Decree No. 182 of the President of the Russian Federation, the artistic director of the Vologda Drama Theater Zurab Nanobashvili was awarded the honorary title "Honored Artist of Russia".
The theater also toured Moscow (Days of the Vologda Region in Moscow), St. Petersburg (Lensovet St. Petersburg State Academic Theater), Nizhny Novgorod (Gorky Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Drama Theater), as well as in large cities of the Vologda region (Cherepovets, Veliky Ustyug).
A special place in the creative activity of the collective is occupied by foreign tours, the organization and quality of which is an undoubted achievement of the artistic director Z. Nanobashvili. After a thirty-year break, in 2008 the theater went abroad for the first time and presented the performances "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Winter" in Helsinki, Finland. And in 2009, the premiere of the play "Women. Fragment" took place at the IV International Theater Festival "Meetings in Odessa" (Ukraine). With the play "The Holiday of solitude. (Pirosmani)" the theater visited Slovakia at a theater festival. And in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, the Russian Center for Science and Culture hosted a presentation dedicated to the history of the Vologda Drama Theater.
From January 2010 to August 2012, Zurab Nanobashvili simultaneously headed the Cherepovets Municipal Chamber Theater. From September 2012 to February 2014, he combined the position of chief director at the Ivanovo Regional Drama Theater. As an invited director, he staged two dozen performances in different cities of Russia and abroad.
Z.A. Nanobashvili always takes an active part in public life. In 2014, he was a member of the jury of the M. A. Kulikovsky regional festival "Kuban Theater", became a member of the jury of the First Open Documentary film Festival about music - MusicDocFest (2016), was invited to the jury of the All-Russian Festival of Television Films "Man and Faith" (2016), was a member of the jury of the XIII International Festival "Slavic Theatrical Meetings" in Gomel (2017), was a member of the organizing committee for the preparation of the International Theater Festival "Voices of History". In 2014, Z. Nanobashvili took part in the round table meeting "Theater in the modern world. Place. Role. Mission" within the framework of the St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum as a speaker. In his speech, he paid attention to the conditions and problems of the provincial theater, its isolation and self-sufficiency, as well as the relationship between the theater and the state.
For a special contribution to the development of Vologda culture, Z.A. Nanobashvili was awarded the badge "For Services to Vologda" (2014). On May 3, 2018, by Decree No. 182 of the President of the Russian Federation, the artistic director of the Vologda Drama Theater Zurab Nanobashvili was awarded the honorary title "Honored Artist of Russia".
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