Uzbekistan’s Honored Artist, theatre director and former artistic director of the State Academic Russian Drama Theatre of Uzbekistan, Vladimir Shapiro, has died. Below is a brief biography of the director and the author’s personal recollections of one of her meetings with him in the early 2000s.
“His talented work enriched the palette of the country’s theatrical art and became a bright and unique phenomenon in the cultural life of Uzbekistan. Vladimir Mikhailovich will forever remain an example of wisdom, optimism and boundless dedication to his profession. We will remember Vladimir Mikhailovich as a highly accomplished professional who devoted his entire creative life to serving the arts,” the State Academic Russian Drama Theatre of Uzbekistan (GARDT) said on its Facebook page.
Vladimir Shapiro was born in Tashkent in 1948. In 1971, he graduated from the Tashkent Theatre and Art Institute with a degree in drama acting. From 1974 to 1979, he studied directing at the Leningrad State Institute of Theatre, Music and Cinematography (the St Petersburg State Academy of Theatre Arts). He staged productions at theatres in Stavropol, Rostov-on-Don, Chelyabinsk and Leningrad.
From 1984 to 1990, he worked as a stage director at the Akimov Academic Comedy Theatre in St Petersburg. In 1988–89, he directed several productions at Tashkent’s Russian Academic Drama Theatre named after Maxim Gorky. In 1990, he was appointed artistic director of the theatre, and in 1991 became its director.
The author of this article met Vladimir Shapiro once in the early 2000s, shortly after the theatre moved into the former House of Knowledge building. During the interview, he gave the impression of someone trying to appear inaccessible to an ordinary member of the public, while at the same time avoiding saying anything that might displease the country’s leadership.
I asked Shapiro how he felt about the theatre’s recent removal of Maxim Gorky’s name. The director said he had no objection. When I asked about the fact that the new theatre had fewer seats for the audience than the previous building, he was also positive about it, saying that creating a certain shortage of seats could increase the theatre’s prestige.
As for the artistic work itself, at the time I preferred the productions of the Ilkhom Theatre, led by the late Mark Weil, to those of GARDT. Ilkhom’s productions were bolder and fresher.
Vladimir Shapiro was awarded the Shukhrat Medal in 1994, the Dustlik Order in 1997 and the Order for Selfless Services in 2006. He was an Honored Artist of Uzbekistan and an academician of the International Royal Academy of Arts under the UN.
I join the GARDT staff in expressing my condolences and extend my sympathy to the family and friends of theatre director Vladimir Shapiro.
