Sergei Tcherkasski

SERGEI TCHERKASSKI is Head of an Acting Studio in the renowned Saint Petersburg Theatre Arts Academy (established in 1779). He is Professor of Acting and Directing and holds a Ph.D. for his research into the education of directors in Russia. His second (D.Sc. in Theatre Arts) dissertation resulted in the book Acting: Stanislavsky – Boleslavsky – Strasberg (History, Theory and Practice of the System and the Method) (2016).

His other books include Stanislavsky and Yoga (in Russian, 2013; Japanese, 2015; and in English: Routledge/Icarus, 2016), Valentine Smyshliaev – Actor, Director and Teacher (2004), Sulimov’s School of Directing (2013). They form a kind of trilogy representing Tcherkasski’s professional family tree which grows directly from Stanislavsky to Smyshliaev (member of the First Studio of Moscow Art Theatre) and then to Sulimov (one of the leading Russian teachers of directing of the twentieth century).

Tcherkasski has directed more than three dozen classical and modern plays. Two of his productions – Dangerous Liaisons and Great Catherine – ran in Saint Petersburg for twelve and sixteen years respectively. His international directing credits include Great Catherine by Shaw and Duck Hunting by Vampilov at RADA (London), The Inspector General by Gogol at the National Theatre of Romania (Bucharest) and Flight by Bulgakov at NIDA (Sydney).

Prof. Tcherkasski’s students work in many leading Russian companies; they become award-winning actors and directors including nominees and winners of the Golden Mask Award. Tcherkasski has led workshops in more than forty theatre schools all over the world.