Adelina Gizatullina

I Created Audrey Hepburn is the title of the play by Adeline Gizatullina, staged on the Studio Stage of the Vakhtangov Theatre. In writing it, she drew inspiration from the remarkable biographical book Confessions of Love, in which Audrey Hepburn expresses neither bitterness nor complaints about fate, but only love for people and for life itself. Hepburn considered her work with UNICEF — the UN organization supporting children around the world — to be the most important mission of her life, becoming for many a true guardian angel.

“When I was seven years old, I first saw Roman Holiday,” said Adeline Gizatullina. “Since then, Audrey became my idol and role model. Like her, I dreamed of becoming a ballerina and dancing professionally. Like her, I was forced to abandon that dream. But what inspires my deepest respect is her phrase: ‘I must use my face, because it has given me so much. It would be wrong not to use it for something truly worthwhile.’”

The play features two characters — mother and daughter. Baroness Ella van Heemstra is portrayed by Honored Artist of Russia Elena Sotnikova, while Audrey Hepburn is played by actress Anna Chumak.

The central and only storyline of the production is built around the relationship between these two women. Audrey’s mother dreamed that her daughter would become an outstanding ballerina. The girl’s childhood consisted of endless restrictions, exhausting rehearsals, and hours at the ballet barre. But that dream was not fulfilled: Audrey grew to 170 cm, which made a ballet career impossible at the time.

Yet another summit awaited her. Audrey became an icon of cinema and fashion, ranked among the greatest American actresses and one of Hollywood’s highest-paid stars.

Worldwide fame came with Roman Holiday by William Wyler, for which she received the Academy Award in 1953.

Audrey’s first husband was Mel Ferrer — actor, director, and producer. They married in 1954 and remained together for fourteen years, though their relationship was troubled. Ella van Heemstra believed she had the right to interfere in her adult daughter’s life, constantly offering unsolicited advice — a situation familiar to many young couples.

Actress Elena Sotnikova sympathized with her character, unlike director Adeline Gizatullina, who took the opposite view. As often happens in life, what seems obvious turns out not to be so simple. Once a marriage is formed, a new independent family emerges with its own inner world, and outside interference can lead to conflict and destruction.

In Audrey’s case — beyond the boundaries of the play — both her first marriage and her second, to Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti, ended in divorce. Her final partner, Robert Wolders, remained with her until the end of her life, though they never officially married. Audrey Hepburn died at the age of 64.

What is true maternal love? From a Christian perspective, maternal love is the desire to give one’s child the fullness of love itself — not to fulfill personal ambitions or the desire for a child to become “the very best” at everything. Audrey Hepburn’s судьба became a vivid example of this truth.

By Svetlana Telyatnikova-Nikabadze
Photos courtesy of the theatre press service