Slovokhotov Vladimir Dmitrievich

    Artistic Coordinator, Director of the State Satire Theatre on the Vasilievsky Island.
    Born May 4th, 1955 in the village of Sergeyevka in the Krasnoyarsk region to a family of teachers. Graduated from the Tashkent Theatre Institute as a dramatic theatre and cinema actor in 1980.
   His wife, Slovokhotova Olga Sergeyevna, born in 1954, is in charge of the Satire Theatre's troupe. His daughter Alla Yudina, born in 1976, is a student of the St. Petersburg Theatre Academy. His daughter Xenia Slovokhotova, born in 1981, is a student at the Northwestern Academy of State Service under the President's office.
   V.D. Slotokhotov has dedicated nearly a quarter of a century's worth of work to theatre art. He has previously worked in the theatres of Omsk, Petropavlovsk (Kazakhstan), Ryazan, Saransk, Tashkent and Tula. He has played the leading roles of Krotov (in "One Love's Story"), Glumov ("For Every Sage There's Enough Simplicity"), Lenin ("Blue Horses on Red Grass"), Nechayev ("Never Was, Never Participated") and many others, which became noteworthy events in the theatre life of Russia's major cities.
   Slovokhotov gradually began to combine his acting with theatre promotion activities. In 1977 he became Deputy Director of the Novomoskovsky Theatre, and here his significant organizing talents have manifested themselves. He has gained the reputation of a man with his own unique vision of theatre art who is able to think in unorthodox ways and to accomplish things which may seem practically impossible.
   The Satire Theatre, founded by Slovokhotov in 1989, did not originally have a premise of its own, but over its ten-year period of existence it has become one of Russia's most noteworthy theatre teams. Today the theatre is an inseparable part of St. Petersburg's and Russia's cultural landscape, and this is largely due to Mr. Slovokhotov's efforts. The theatre's repertory consists of world classics, as well as modern drama of various artistic schools and currents. The theatre's plays have received Russia's highest theatre awards and represented Russian theatre at international festivals. The theatre's unique troupe, which includes prominent stage stars as well as talented young actors, has been formed piece by piece through a careful selection process. The troupe is a many-sided flexible team of artists with common professional views, capable of accomplishing creative tasks of any degree of complexity.
   The artistic policy followed by V.D. Slovokhotov allows the Theatre of Satire to stage plays by the country's leading directors as well as by beginning authors, whose directing careers start here. The theatre has extensively toured Russia, the C.I.S. countries and Europe. The plays are successful among the audiences and are highly evaluated by theatre critics. The Theatre of Satire has developed its own unique creative methods, based on age-old humanistic values and the traditions of Russian theatrical culture, over a short time period.
   Slovokhotov has been awarded the "Man of the Year" title in 1998 for his active humanitarian work.
   In his spare time, he enjoys cooking and treating his numerous guests with home-made dishes. He has patriotic feelings towards the Vasilievsky Island and considers his grandson Andryusha to be his best friend. He has a good sense of humour and his friends think he is a charming companion.
   The State Satire Theatre on the Vasilievsky Island has been founded on September 1, 1989. Over the past ten years the theatre has become a major factor of St. Petersburg's cultural life and gained a high reputation throughout Russia and abroad.
    The theatre's repertory is dominated by comedy and farse, but serious genres are also present. This relates to the plays created by the city's well-known theatre directors, such as Vladimir Tumanov, Akhmat Bairamkulov and Igor Larin. The theatre has attracted celebrities such as Roman Viktyuk (whose play titled "Butterfly... Butterfly" was taken out of the repertory after the death of Valentina Kovel), Rezo Gabriade (who has staged the country's great favourite "Song of the Volga") and Andrzej Bubien, one of Poland's most popular contemporary directors. Talented young directors, like Aleksei Yankovsky and Adrian Rostovsky, have begun their careers here.
   The Satire Theatre is organized as a producing centre. Individual stage directors are invited here for specific stagings, and their relationships with the theatre's administration are totally different from those in theatres that are headed by their chief stage directors. The theatre's strategy is to create a collection of successful plays that would suit viewers of various tastes and levels of theatrical experience.
   The theatre's troupe is quite young, its average age being 30. This gives the theatre a certain energetic quality, creates a specific style of inter- personal relationships within the troupe and affects its contact with the public. The majority of troupe members combine acting with singing and dancing. Artists like Vladimir Osobik, Aleksander Khochinsky and Valentina Kovel have all worked in this theatre. Despite its relatively young age, the theatre has already lost some of its important workers, but several of its present-day troupe members by their personal example have provided the younger generation of artists with a strong creative impulse and a high standard of artistic work ethics. Among those are such theatre celebrities as Antonina Shuranova, Pavlina Konopchuk, Elena Rakhlenko, Natalia Kutasova, Sergei Lysov, Aleksander Levit and Viktor Shubin.
   The Satire Theatre has become a laureate of the country's most prestigious theatre awards. Its play "Song of the Volga" has received the Triumph and Golden Mask awards, "Tanya - Tanya" has been awarded a Golden Sophite. The play titled "Vassa Zheleznova" has been chosen a candidate for the Russian State Award. The theatre has participated in international theatre festivals in Avignone and Vale d'Oise (France), Palermo (Italy), Berlin and Helsinki. Antonina Shuranova has received the best female role prize at the Kontakt festival in Poland for "Vassa Zheleznova". The theatre's plays have been included into the program of Helsinki-2000 international theatre forum.
   Famous plays like "Tanya - Tanya" and "Vassa Zheleznova" are in the theatre's current repertory. "Love Triangle", "Dangerous Ties", "Don Giovanni" and "God Bless You!" are among the audience's favourites. "Peppi the Loose Stocking", "The Adventures of Leopold the Cat" and "Uncle Feodor, Cat and Dog" are popular among young spectators.
   The theatre's plays are often produced abroad. Foreign producers are attracted by the troupe's plastic and musical talents, by high-quality stage equipment and by the theatre's unique atmosphere. They enjoy working with a theatre team capable of making quick and effective decisions. The Theatre of Satire has toured Italy, France, Germany, Poland, Finland and Israel.
   It has also performed on various stages of Russia. The theatre's plays are appreciated by theatre lovers in the cities of Siberia and the Altay region, in Russia's North-West and on the Urals, in the Volga and Krasnodar regions, as well as in Belorussia and the Baltic states. The theatre's troupe has performed in Chechnya during the war in 1995-96. It continues to pay particular attention towards serving the needs of the Leningrad region's audiences. The theatre has a tradition of special performances for the region's various governmental and professional organizations.
   Ten years is certainly not an old age for a theatre, but considering that it has started absolutely from scratch in 1989, this is an important anniversary. Above all, it proves the theatre's ability to survive and to proceed towards the accomplishment of its tremendous plans for the future.

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