Actress Yekaterina Elanskaya: biography with photo

Ekaterina Elanskaya was born in Moscow on the autumn day of September 13, 1929. Her famous parents (actor and director Ilya Yakovlevich Sudakov and actress Claudia Elanskaya) largely predetermined the life path of her daughter. The art of theater, which in the eyes of the girl was embodied by parents in various scenic images, from childhood fascinated Catherine.

The first steps in a career

After graduating from school, Ekaterina Elanskaya, an actress (see photo below), is studying at the Moscow Art Theater. Her teacher was AM Karev. It was there she was destined to meet with the first love. It was a novice actor Viktor Korshunov. They met for several years, and two years after the completion of their studies at the Moscow Art Theater School (1953) they played a wedding. Soon the couple had a son, Alexander.

It was then that Ekaterina Elanskaya became a sought-after actress of the Maly Theater. She perfectly succeeded in completely different images, and the emotionality and depth of performance led to the fact that she often got the main roles in the performances. Especially bright works of that time are "When spears break" (Lydia), "Vassa Zheleznova" (Lyudmila), "Doctor of Philosophy" (Slavka), "Song of the Wind" (Kurnosaya) and others.

Beginning of directing work

Ekaterina Elanskaya is an actress, certainly talented. But in addition to acting, she was very interested in directing. That's why she went to graduate school in GITIS. There she was taught by Maria Knebel, the famous teacher of that time, who was the idol of Elanskaya. After graduation, she tried her hand at the director's work in the 1960s. Her performances somehow immediately attracted the audience and became very popular. And as a director she works in several Moscow theaters.

For example, at the Stanislavsky Theater, she staged Robin Hood and The Little Prince, at the Yermolova Theater - Month in the Country, Sovremennik - The Taste of Cherry, and at the Literary and Drama Theater of the WTO, The Beach.

Success

In its productions participated such popular actors as Oleg Dahl, George Burkov, Alexander Kalyagin, Ekaterina Vasilyeva and others. It should be noted that Ekaterina Elanskaya always very responsibly approached the formation of the cast in her performances, every time thinking over how one or another actor will be able to embody his hero on the stage. Her desire for courageous experiments and unexpected director's findings led to the popularity of the productions of this talented woman. Most of her performances were filmed and repeatedly broadcast on television. Many of the productions became part of the gold fund of Soviet TV.

Probably, it was then that they stopped talking about her as the daughter of famous parents. Elanskaya was able to prove that she is an independent person, and can manifest herself in various spheres of theatrical activity.

E. Elanskaya is an innovator and an experimenter

Innovative ideas on this have not dried up. On the contrary, Ekaterina Ilinichna began to dream of creating a completely new, unlike any existing theater. She dreamed of putting into practice grandiose ideas, which by the standards of that time seemed to many to be just crazy. Especially she was fascinated by the dream of transforming the auditorium. In the performance "Mail to the South", which took place in the concert hall of the Name of PI Tchaikovsky, Ekaterina Elanskaya partly succeeded in doing this. The amphitheater and the stage were united in a large hemisphere, which changed the perception by the spectator of everything that happens in the play. On the same principle, other works were presented: "Poor people" and "There, in the distance".

The Sfera Theater

In 1981, Ekaterina Elanskaya became the artistic director of one of the famous Moscow theaters. This is the theater "Sphere". Initially, "Sphere" was located in the House of Culture plant "Kauchuk", located on Plyushchikha. And in 1984 the building was specially built for the theater on the territory of the Hermitage Garden. The project of the building was compiled and implemented in reality by the joint efforts of three people. The generator of ideas, of course, was Ekaterina Ilinichna, and the main artist of the theater V. Soldatov and architect N. Golas embodied her ideas. They realized Yelanskaya's long-standing dream of creating a spherical space. The uniqueness of the idea was undeniable. The hall was a grand circular amphitheater, all places in which were removable and could be transformed depending on the nuances of the production. Inside the amphitheater there were several scenic areas. One of them was larger than the others and occupied the central part, while the rest were located on the periphery. After the opening of the renovated theater, a huge number of spectators were drawn there. After all, there was the only hall in Moscow where every guest was a kind of participant of all the events of the play, and not just watched from the side.

The permanent head of the Sfera Theater

In the last two decades of the last century, Ekaterina Elanskaya, whose photographs are now rarely seen in the media, heading the theater "Sphere", again and again proved her talent as a director and leader. Many performances, staged then, were discussed in all the sidelines. The audience enthusiastically accepted the new work of Catherine Ilyinichna. The most famous performances: "Live and Remember" by V. Rasputin (1984), "Seagull" by A. P. Chekhov (1987), "Fatal eggs" by M. Bulgakov (1989), "The Kingdom is on the table!" Drama by H. Ibsen, "Lolita" based on the novel by V. Nabokov (1996), etc. A production based on the novel by Mikhail Bulgakov "Theatrical Novel" (1985) can be safely called a visiting card of "Sphere".

And when in 2003 the chamber stage was opened, a new stream of spectators was drawn into the theater. Ekaterina Elanskaya, whose biography is forever associated with the "Sphere", invited the experimental directors who embodied their bold ideas on the chamber stage. Among such productions, we can mention the performance of A. Parra "The Nahlebnik" by I. Turgenev, "Oh, how good this world is!" Directed by A. Korshunov (son of Yelanskaya) by E. Broškevich. In addition to direct management of the theater, Ekaterina Ilinichna continued her directorial work, which resulted in the production of "Heaven and Hell" based on the work of P. Merimee.

A family

Spouse E. Elanskoy - Viktor Korshunov - gave many years of work in the Maly Theater, having performed a huge number of different roles. And since 1985 he headed it. V. Korshunov died on April 17, 2015. He survived his wife for almost two years. Ekaterina Ilinichna herself passed away on July 16, 2013. It rests on the Novodevichy cemetery.

The son and grandsons of the famous married couple continue the work of their ancestors. Alexander Korshunov and to this day is an actor of the Maly Theater. Stepan and Claudia (grandchildren) also decided to become actors. Many point to Claudia's granddaughter's resemblance to her grandmother.

Indeed, Claudia Korshunova and Ekaterina Elanskaya are very similar. Filmography of young actress K. Korshunova: "Soldiers' Decameron", "Alexander Garden", "977". A grandson of the famous actress and director Stepan can often be seen on the scenes of the Maly Theater and the theater "Sphere".