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Revaz GabriadzeArtist, sculptor, film playwright, puppeteer director
Date of Birth: 29.06.1936
Country:  Georgia |
Content:
Biography of Rezo Gabriadze
Rezo Gabriadze was a Soviet and Georgian screenwriter, playwright, director, artist, and sculptor. He was born on June 29, 1936, in the city of Kutaisi. Gabriadze graduated from the Faculty of Journalism at the Tbilisi State University in 1964. He furthered his studies at the Higher Courses for Scriptwriters and Directors in Moscow in 1967. Apart from his artistic pursuits, Gabriadze was also involved in the construction of the Inguri Hydroelectric Power Station.
Theater and Film Career
Gabriadze wrote scripts for over 35 films, including "Don't Grieve!", "Mimino", "Kin-Dza-Dza!", "Extraordinary Exhibition", "Passport", and more. In 1981, he founded the Tbilisi Marionette Theater, where he served as a director, playwright, artist, and sculptor. He wrote plays, created puppets, and brought them to life on stage in his theater.
During the 1990s, Gabriadze worked in Switzerland and France, where he directed two dramatic performances: "The End of the Alley" at the Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne and "Kutaisi" in Paris. These productions featured renowned actors from the Peter Brook Theatre, including Natalie Parry and Bakary Sangaré. In 1994, Gabriadze directed the play "Song of the Volga," which was later renamed "The Battle of Stalingrad" in Tbilisi. This was one of his most notable works, with its premiere held in Dijon, France, in 1996.
In 2002, in collaboration with the Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne in Switzerland, Gabriadze restaged "Autumn of My Spring." In 2004, he wrote and directed the play "Forbidden Christmas, or Doctor and Patient" for the Baryshnikov Dance Foundation in New York. The premiere took place in Minneapolis and later toured at the Lincoln Center and the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina.
Gabriadze's performances have been showcased in numerous countries and major international theater festivals, including Avignon, Edinburgh, New York, Toronto, Belgrade, Charleston, Dresden, Moscow, and more. His theater program includes five plays: "Autumn of My Spring," "Stalingrad," "Ramona," "The Diamonds of Marshal de Fantie," and "Rezo."
Artistic Achievements
Aside from his theater and film career, Gabriadze was an accomplished artist, sculptor, and master of book graphics. His works have been exhibited in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Paris, Rennes, and Dijon. He participated in the Munich exhibition "From Eisenstein to Tarkovsky." His paintings, graphics, and sculptures are housed in numerous public and private collections in the United States, Russia, Germany, Israel, France, and Japan. Gabriadze received many prestigious awards, including the State Prize of the USSR (1989), the Rustaveli Prize in Georgia, the Nika, Triumph, and Golden Mask Awards in Russia. He was also honored as a Knight of the Order of Arts and Literature by the French Republic.
Gabriadze's artistic legacy is commemorated in Marina Dmitrevskaya's book "The Theater of Rezo Gabriadze" (2005).
Personal Life
Gabriadze was married to Elena Zakharovna Gabriadze. They had two children: a son named Levan Gabriadze, who is a film and advertising director, and a daughter named Anna, born in 1968.
Gabriadze passed away on June 6, 2021, after a prolonged illness. He was laid to rest on June 10 in the Mtatsminda Pantheon.
