Platon Ivan Stepanovich

Director

PLATON Ivan Stepanovich (April 15 (27) 1870 - October 11, 1935) – Russian Soviet director and playwright. Honored Cultural Worker of the RSFSR (1933).

In 1892 he graduated from the drama courses of the Moscow Art Theatre School and joined the troupe of the Maly Theatre as an actor and assistant director. Since 1895 he worked in the director's management of the Maly Theatre. From 1923 to 1930 he was the head of the production of the theatre. His first independent production was «The Lie» by Elena Zeland (1899). Among the performances staged by Platon in the Maly Theatre are: Caesar and Cleopatra» by George Bernard Shaw (1909), «The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro», «Maria Stewart» (both in 1910); «A Glass of Water» by by the French writer Eugene Scribe, Aleksey Pisemsky's «Men Above the Law» (both in 1915), Maxim Gorky's «The Old Man» (1919), Pyotr Gnedich's «Kholopy» (1921), Lunacharsky's «Oliver Cromwell» (1921), «Poverty is no Crime» (1924, together with Lev Prozorovskiy), «Ivan Kozyr and Tatiana Russkikh» by Dmitriy Smolin (1925, together with Lev Prozorovskiy), «There Was Not a Single Penny, and Suddenly There is a Dime» by Alexander Ostrovsky (1931). Platon is the director of the spectacular drama «Lyubov Yarovaya», staged in 1926 together with Lev Prozorovskiy. He fought for realistic principles in the theatre practice, and focused extensively on acting. He was one of the founders of the Zemetchensky kolkoz branch of the Maly Theatre, where he staged many plays by Ostrovsky, as well as the «The Government Inspector» and others. In 1936 Platon’s name was given to the Zemetchensky Theatrw. Since 1902 Platon acted as a playwright. He is the author of the following plays: «The Misadvanture» (1902, New Theatre), «Slaves» (1904), «Arakcheevshchina» (1925), «The Legacy of Times» (1927), etc., staged at the Maly Theatre. He translated plays by Beaumarchais, Molière, and others. In 1905-12 he was a professor at the drama school of the Moscow Philharmonic Society.

REFERENCES: Balerin S., I.S. Platon, «The KolkhozTheatre», 1935, No. 23;
Actors and directors, Moscow, 1928;
Prozorovskiy L., From the past, M., 1958.

PLATON Ivan Stepanovich (April 15 (27) 1870 - October 11, 1935) – Russian Soviet director and playwright. Honored Cultural Worker of the RSFSR (1933).

In 1892 he graduated from the drama courses of the Moscow Art Theatre School and joined the troupe of the Maly Theatre as an actor and assistant director. Since 1895 he worked in the director's management of the Maly Theatre. From 1923 to 1930 he was the head of the production of the theatre. His first independent production was «The Lie» by Elena Zeland (1899). Among the performances staged by Platon in the Maly Theatre are: Caesar and Cleopatra» by George Bernard Shaw (1909), «The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro», «Maria Stewart» (both in 1910); «A Glass of Water» by by the French writer Eugene Scribe, Aleksey Pisemsky's «Men Above the Law» (both in 1915), Maxim Gorky's «The Old Man» (1919), Pyotr Gnedich's «Kholopy» (1921), Lunacharsky's «Oliver Cromwell» (1921), «Poverty is no Crime» (1924, together with Lev Prozorovskiy), «Ivan Kozyr and Tatiana Russkikh» by Dmitriy Smolin (1925, together with Lev Prozorovskiy), «There Was Not a Single Penny, and Suddenly There is a Dime» by Alexander Ostrovsky (1931). Platon is the director of the spectacular drama «Lyubov Yarovaya», staged in 1926 together with Lev Prozorovskiy. He fought for realistic principles in the theatre practice, and focused extensively on acting. He was one of the founders of the Zemetchensky kolkoz branch of the Maly Theatre, where he staged many plays by Ostrovsky, as well as the «The Government Inspector» and others. In 1936 Platon’s name was given to the Zemetchensky Theatrw. Since 1902 Platon acted as a playwright. He is the author of the following plays: «The Misadvanture» (1902, New Theatre), «Slaves» (1904), «Arakcheevshchina» (1925), «The Legacy of Times» (1927), etc., staged at the Maly Theatre. He translated plays by Beaumarchais, Molière, and others. In 1905-12 he was a professor at the drama school of the Moscow Philharmonic Society.

REFERENCES: Balerin S., I.S. Platon, «The KolkhozTheatre», 1935, No. 23;
Actors and directors, Moscow, 1928;
Prozorovskiy L., From the past, M., 1958.

Publications