The International Committee of Theatre Olympics
Theodoros Terzopoulos (1941)
Greece
Terzopoulos is a famous Greek theatre director, one of the leaders of the European stage, theatre theorist and teacher, creator of his own method of acting. He is an expert of global renown in the sphere of Ancient Greek tragedies. He is considered one of the leading theatre directors of Greece. In 1985 he set up ATTIS theatre in Athens and organized a festival dedicated to the ancient times in Delphi. In 1990 he founded and then led the International Institute of Mediterranean Theatres. Many works of the director received prestigious theatre awards. Since 1993 Terzopoulos is the president of the International Committee of the Theatre Olympics.
Suzuki Tadashi (1939)
Japan
Suzuki Tadashi is a Japanese theatre director, teacher, philosopher and theorist of the theatre whose work has had a significant impact on the world theatre arts. He is the founder and director of SCOT (Suzuki Company of Toga), organizer of the first international theatre festival in Japan (the Toga Festival), and creator of the Suzuki Method of Actor Training.
Robert Wilson (1941)
United States
Robert Wilson is an American director and stage designer. Artistic director of The Watermill Center in New York. Winner of the Venetian Biennale (1993), the European Theatre Prize (1997), the Laurence Olivier Award (2013), and many other prestigious prizes and festivals. Robert Wilson’s work has been staged in Berliner Ensemble, the National Theater of Norway (Oslo), the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, in Vígszínház (Budapest) and in many other major theatres in the world.
Valery Fokin (1946)
Russia
World-renowned Russian director. Mr. Fokin is the People’s Artist of Russia, winner of four Russian State Prizes, and Honored Worker of Arts in Poland. Since 2003 he has been working as an Artistic Director of the Alexandrinsky Theatre. Since 2006 he has been a Presidium Member of the High Council for Culture and Art under the President of the Russian Federation. President of Vs. Meyerkhold Center – since 2011. Chairman of the Russian Guild of Theatre Directors – since 2012.
Wole Soyinka (1934)
Nigeria
Wole Soyinka is a playwright, writer and poet from Nigeria, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. Professor of Obafemi Awolowo University (Nigeria), Research Fellow at the University of Nevada and Harvard University. One of the most influential African writers of today.
Attila Vidnyánszky (1964)
Hungary
He is a theatre and opera director, teacher, theatre manager and festival organiser. Originally from Transcarpathia, now part of Ukraine, he founded his company there, which continues to operate to this day and has been invited to prestigious festivals from Nancy to Torun and Moscow, including the Moscow and St Petersburg Theatre Olympics. He was the Principal Director of the Hungarian State Opera House and, since 2013, he has been at the helm of the National Theatre in Budapest. He is the founder of MITEM (Madách International Theatre Meeting). He has taught in Kyiv and Kaposvár and currently teaches theatre directing at the Budapest University of Theatre and Film Arts. He has received many Hungarian and international theatre awards, including the Mejerhold Prize in 2009.
Nuria Espert (1935)
Spain
Núria Espert is a Spanish actress and director. She is the creator and artistic director of Sala Municipal Theatre in Barcelona. Laureate of the National Spanish Theatre Prize (1984) and the Princess of Asturias Prize (2016). Laureate of the Special Prize of the Europe Theatre Prize (2018). Her shows are presented in largest Spanish-speaking drama and opera theatres of the world.
Ratan Thiyam (1948)
India
One of the leading figures of the “theatre of roots” movement in Indian theatre, which started in the 1970s. He is known for writing and staging plays that use ancient Indian theatre traditions and forms in a contemporary context. Thiyam is often considered one of leading contemporary theatre gurus. He is the founder-director of Chorus Repertory Theatre (Manipur). He was awarded the 2012 Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour in the performing arts conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India’s National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama.
Tony Harrison (1937)
United Kingdom
A world-renowned poet and playwright, he is one of the central figures in contemporary English-language poetry. Mr. Harrison has authored a significant number of poetic texts for drama and opera theatres, film and television, author of the genre of poetic event reports in the press. As a director, staged many shows on the stage of the National Theatre in London, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, the Metropolitan Opera, and staged shows in Greece, Russia, Austria and Japan.
Jarosław Fret (1971)
Poland
Mr. Fret is a theatre manager, director and theatre scholar from Poland. He is the director of the Grotowski Institute, ZAR Theatre, and Professor of the Theatre School of Wroclaw. One of the major scholars studying the creative heritage of Jerzy Grotowski.
Liu Libin (1953)
China
Chinese theatre director and teacher. Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Central Academy of Drama (Beijing), Vice President of the Committee on Theatre Art of the Chinese Institute of Drama Art, Vice Chairman of the Asian Center for Theatre Education (APEC). Winner of Innovation and Golden Lion Prizes of the Ministry of Culture of China. He has authored research studies on the psychology of acting and the method of psychological realism in the theatre show.
Choi Chyrim (1944)
South Korea
Director, leading figure of the Korean Theatre. President of the Bureau, Korean Centre of ITI (International Theatre Institute)
Georges Lavaudant (1947)
France
Famous French director, playwright, writer, actor. In 1986 replaced Patrice Chéreau at Théâtre national populaire à Villeurbanne (National People’s Theatre at Villeurbanne), which he headed with Roger Planchon until 1996. In March 1996 became a director of one of the most notable stages of France, Odeon – Theatre of Europe. Together with a team of associates worked with theatre troupes from Mexico, Uruguay, India and Vietnam. Staged a play in Maly Theatre in Moscow (Russia).
Giorgio Barberio Corsetti (1951)
Italy
Italian theatre director, in 1976 created his first troupe under the name of La Gaia Scienza (Happy Science), and in 1984 founded the Giorgio Barberio Corsetti Theatre Company, which was renamed Fattore K (Factory K) in 2001. Mr. Corsetti is one of the leading interpreters of Kafka’s work on the theatre stage. In 1999 he was appointed head of the Theatre section at the Venetian Biennale. In recent years has done much work on the opera stage, staged performances in leading theatres of the world, experimenting in the field of connecting theatre language with video graphics, and combining classical art with pop culture.
Jürgen Flimm (1941)
Germany
Theatre and opera director, a living classic of German director theatre. In 1985-2000 served as the principal director of Thalia Theater (Hamburg). Artistic Director of the Salzburg Festival from 2007 to 2010. Intendant of the Berlin State Opera from 2010 to 2015. Jürgen Flimm’s opera productions have been staged in leading theatres of the world – in The Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, the UK, Italy, Russia and the US. Professor of Hamburg University, Member of Academies of Arts in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Berlin, and Frankfurt.
Heiner Müller (1929-1995)
Germany
One of the most prominent (East) German playwrights of the second half of the 20th century. He was also a dramaturge and director. At the end of his life, he was the theatre director of the Berliner Ensemble, founded by Bertolt Brecht, and president of the Berlin Academy of Arts.
Yuri Lyubimov (1917–2014)
Russia
Founder of the world-famous Taganka in Moscow, he was a leading figure in Russian cultural life. His spectacular, unconventional and often sharply political performances were a symbol of artistic freedom and a search for new paths.
Antunes Filho (1929-2019)
Brazil
Theatre director, one of the reformers of the Brazil theatre of the second half of the 20th century. Head of the Theatre Research Center (CPT), creator of own method of acting.
