“I Created Audrey Hepburn” – PREMIERE on the Studio Stage!
April 27, 2026
On April 27 at 7:30 PM, the Studio Stage will host the premiere of I CREATED AUDREY HEPBURN by Adeline Gizatullina.
Directed by Adeline Gizatullina. Production Designer — Elzar Abdrakhmanov. Costume Designer — Alexandra Vakhrushina. Lighting Designer — Alexander Matveev. Makeup Designer — Honored Cultural Worker of Russia Olga Kalyavina. Composer — Andrey Bulatov. Choreographer — Olga Logvina. Vocal Coach — Alexander Sazonov. Sound Designer — Ekaterina Volkova. Technical Support — Dmitry Lazarev. Assistant Director — Irina Gromova.
Starring: Honored Artist of Russia Elena Sotnikova and actress Anna Chumak.
Adeline Gizatullina’s play I Created Audrey Hepburn explores the complex relationship between the legendary actress and her mother. While the story is based on real events from Audrey Hepburn’s life, the focus shifts to the woman who stood behind her development and shaped her path. What is true maternal love? Is it more about support or expectations, acceptance or the desire to change another person? Through the production, playwright and director Adeline Gizatullina raises these questions, seeking to capture the living truth of human relationships.
From a conversation with the director, Adeline Gizatullina:
“The world knows Audrey Hepburn as an actress and a style icon. But very few people know what she truly dreamed of. I believe this story will resonate not only with women. Men, too, will recognize themselves in these characters. I was fascinated by Audrey as a child, and I continue to admire her today — a woman of extraordinary purity and kindness.
Anna Chumak will portray Audrey, while her mother will be played by the wonderful actress Elena Sotnikova. It is especially meaningful that the premiere takes place on the eve of a beautiful occasion — Elena Viktorovna Sotnikova’s birthday.”
Audrey Hepburn (May 4, 1929 – January 20, 1993) was born in Belgium and spent her childhood and youth in the Netherlands, in Arnhem during the Nazi occupation of World War II. Her mother, Ella van Heemstra (1900–1984), was a Dutch baroness and aristocrat. Her father, Joseph Hepburn-Ruston, left the family in 1935, an event that became a profound emotional trauma for six-year-old Audrey. She studied ballet and moved to London in 1948, where she began working as a dancer on local theatre stages. After appearing in several films, Audrey attracted the attention of Colette, who selected her for the leading role in her Broadway play Gigi.
Audrey Hepburn gave some of her most memorable performances in Roman Holiday, Sabrina, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Funny Face, Charade, My Fair Lady, and How to Steal a Million, among others. Charming, open-hearted, and exceptionally charismatic, she captivated not only her fellow actors — many of whom were among Hollywood’s biggest stars — but also millions of viewers and even the most demanding critics. She received the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Roman Holiday in 1954.
After leaving the world of cinema and theatre at the height of her career, Audrey Hepburn became an international goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, actively raising awareness of the challenges faced by children in disadvantaged regions of Africa, South America, and Asia.
Adeline Gizatullina is an actress, director, and playwright.
As a child, she dreamed of becoming a ballerina, but life circumstances led her in another direction. Growing up in Yakutia, she entered the M.S. Shchepkin Higher Theatre School in Moscow, where she studied under People’s Artist of the USSR Viktor Korshunov. After graduation, she joined the Lenkom Theatre, and in 2014 became part of the Vakhtangov Theatre’s First Studio, later joining its main company four years afterward.
On the Studio Stage, she initiated and performed the one-woman show Miss Nobody from Alabama, dedicated to the dramatic life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, wife and muse of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Through her initiative and collaboration with author Nika Simonova and director Leila Abu-al-Kishek, two productions appeared on the Simonov Stage — Frida. Life in Color, about Frida Kahlo, and Nijinsky. Brilliant Idiot, in which Adeline performed the leading roles. Other notable characters she portrayed at the Vakhtangov Theatre included Mademoiselle Bourienne in War and Peace and Anitra in Peer Gynt.
After leaving the theatre in 2024, Adeline Gizatullina graduated from the Directing Department of the Moscow Film School. This year, the emerging director proposed that the Vakhtangov Theatre stage her play I Created Audrey Hepburn, developed together with renowned Vakhtangov actress and poet Elena Sotnikova.
Adeline Gizatullina’s directorial debut — the premiere of I CREATED AUDREY HEPBURN — will take place on April 27 on the Studio Stage.
