Stage Director Leonid Kheifets is considered a significant figure in Russian theater and cinema. His creative works evoke constant sympathy among the public. Classical works directed by Leonid Efimovich give viewers the opportunity to plunge into the atmosphere created by the creators of immortal works.
From the biography of Leonid Kheifets
The future teacher and theater director was born in Minsk on May 4, 1934. He grew up a mischievous boy. No one in those years could have imagined that Leonid would once become engaged in creativity.
At the insistence of his father, Kheifets entered the Belarusian Polytechnic Institute. However, in the last courses of the university, Leonid showed his freedom-loving character and left the institute to study at GITIS. Kheifets was beckoned by the theater.
Mentors have repeatedly noted in Leonid the ability to organize many people to work together. Kheifets skillfully used the space of the stage, masterfully built the action and timely included the most appropriate intonations.
Leonid Efimovich Kheifets: stages of the creative path
The director’s debut was the play “Who made the miracle” (1962), which was held in the Youth Theater of Riga. As a thesis, Kheifets presented the play "Highway to Ursa Major" (1963).
After graduation, Heifetz was already quite well known as a director, distinguished by a very serious approach to stage work. He was immediately invited to the post of director in the Central Academic Theater of the Soviet Army. Here the director puts on the performances “My poor Marat”, “Death of John the Terrible”, “Uncle Vanya”, “Watchmaker and the Chicken”.
Kheifets offered the audience a new reading of famous literary works. He raised ethical and civic issues in his performances. The director’s creative style was determined by the masterful combination of cold calculation, logic and prudence.
From the beginning of the 70s to the mid-80s, Leonid Efimovich worked at the Maly Theater. In his productions, drama was inherent in his work. One of the most successful projects of those years was the production of Shakespeare's plays. However, the director did not forget about domestic prose. One of Heifetz's favorite authors was Daniel Granin.
Leonid Kheifets had a fruitful work outside the country. He staged performances in Poland, Bulgaria and Turkey. After returning to his homeland, the director worked with the teams of several theaters.
