Bright and courageous director Andrei Zhitinkin declares his creative credo with the word “freedom”, in his productions he chooses such expressive means that can cause strong emotions in the audience. His performances are not indifferent, he engages in action, and people either fall in love with him forever or categorically do not accept his aesthetics. But the latter are much smaller.
The beginning of the way
November 18, 1960 in Vladimir was born Zhitinkin Andrei Albertovich. As a child, he dreamed of becoming an actor, he was inherent in comic talent. He was very fond of reading and after school he wanted to enter the philological faculty of Moscow State University. After graduating from school, Andrei went to Moscow and, walking around the city, accidentally came to the Shchukinsky school. Remembering childhood dreams, he spontaneously applied and entered the acting department. He was able to easily do what many applicants spend years on. His classmates were Eugene Dvorzhetsky, Eugene Knyazev, Vera Sotnikova, Irina Malysheva. Zhitinkin showed undoubted talent in educational plays, he graduated from college with honors and was invited to the Vakhtangov Theater, which testifies to Andrei’s serious talent. There he happened to work with Mikhail Ulyanov and Yuri Yakovlev. When he worked for a year in the theater, he had a fateful conversation with Evgeny Simonov, the main director of the theater named after Vakhtangov. He suggested that Andrei enter his directing course, saying that he was gaining the last workshop. Zhitinkin entered the course to Simonov, in the group there were only six people. To date, Zhitinkin is the last student of an outstanding director working in Moscow. Other Andrei’s classmates left the country and work in other areas. In 1988, Zhitinkin graduated from the directing department of the Shchukin School again with honors, and he was invited to the Sovremennik, one of the best theaters in Moscow.
Actor profession
The acting career of Zhitinkin is quite short. In the first year after school, when he worked at the Vakhtangov Theater, together with Yuri Yakovlev, he played a piercing performance about an aging actor. After that, Zhitinkin left the profession for a long time, although all the artists with whom he collaborated noted that he genuinely showed them the essence of the role. In the early 2000s, he played several small roles, including with Lukino Visconti.
Directorial activity
After school, Andrei Zhitinkin came to the Sovremennik Theater. There, he said, he learned from Galina Volchek the director’s will, the ability to subjugate the entire theater staff: from actor to light. In creative terms, he was not quite lucky with this theater. For three years, all the performances of Zhitinkin were forbidden. He went to the Yermolova Theater, where his first performances appeared, then headed the theater on Malaya Bronnaya for several years , and later his own theater. But at the same time, the geography of his productions covered almost the whole world. He worked in all the best theaters in Moscow, he was invited to stage and lecture abroad. But most of all he loves the capital of Russia, without which he misses and which inspires him.
He managed to work with almost all the eminent stars of the Russian scene: Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Lyudmila Gurchenko, Alexander Shirvindt, George Zhzhenov, Lyubov Polishchuk, Sergey Bezrukov, Mikhail Kazakov, Vera Vasilyeva and many others. But the peculiarity of Zhitinkin as a director is that he works not only with stars, but also attracts many young, aspiring actors. He seeks to show artists in atypical roles for them, finds interesting material for them.
Andrei Zhitinkin was also realized in the cinema, he has two films on his account. But the theater remains his main love in life.
In 1999, Andrei Albertovich Zhitinkin was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation.
The method of Andrei Zhitinkin
Director Andrei Zhitinkin has a vibrant creative personality. His main feature as a director is courage. He is not afraid to use techniques to the extent permitted. He shows a lot of naked body, obscene and slang vocabulary, provocative techniques. But all this is due to its aesthetics, and therefore does not cause shock or insult to the viewer.
Today we can say that the "Andrei Zhitinkin Authors Theater" was formed, and this is not only a designation of the director’s creative method, but also the name of the theater team under his leadership.
Outstanding productions
Andrei Zhitinkin staged over 70 performances, many of which are significant. Among the best critics include performances: “Dear friend” and “Nizhinsky. Crazy God’s Clown ”at the Mossovet Theater,“ The battlefield after victory belongs to the looters ”at the Satire Theater,“ Crazy ”at the Snuffbox,“ Portrait of Dorian Gray ”,“ Caligula ”,“ Recognition of the Adventurer Felix Krul ”in his workshop.
Personal life
There are celebrities who carefully protect their private space, Andrei Zhitinkin belongs to them, whose personal life is a taboo for everyone. The director says that his private life is a theater. He works a lot and with great love, and even plays in a dream. It is known that the director is married, but he prefers not to talk about his wife. In his rare free time, Zhitinkin reads a lot and writes a little, he even published two books: “Playboy of the Moscow scene” (about the secrets of the director's profession) and “99” (a collection of poetic works).