On April 27 at 7:30 PM, the premiere of I CREATED AUDREY HEPBURN by Adeline Gizatullina will take place on the Studio Stage.
The production is 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.
Cast: Honored Artist of Russia Elena Sotnikova and actress Anna Chumak.
Adeline Gizatullina’s play I Created Audrey Hepburn tells the story of the complex relationship between the legendary actress and her mother. The plot is based on real events from Audrey Hepburn’s life, yet at its center stands the woman who shaped her journey. What is true maternal love? Is it more about support or expectations, acceptance or the desire to reshape another person? Through this production, playwright and director Adeline Gizatullina raises these questions in an effort to reveal the living truth of human relationships.
From a conversation with the director, Adeline Gizatullina:
“The world knows Audrey Hepburn as an actress and style icon. But very few know what she truly dreamed of. I believe this story will resonate not only with women. Men, too, will recognize themselves in these characters. As a child, I was fascinated by Audrey, 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 doubly 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, Baroness Ella van Heemstra (1900–1984), was a Dutch aristocrat. Her father, Joseph Hepburn-Ruston, left the family in 1935, an event that deeply affected six-year-old Audrey.
She studied ballet and moved to London in 1948, beginning work as a dancer in local theatres. After appearing in several films, Audrey caught the attention of writer and actress Colette, who selected her for the leading role in her Broadway play Gigi.
Audrey Hepburn delivered 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 many others. Charming, warm, and exceptionally charismatic, she captivated fellow actors, audiences, and critics alike. She received the Academy Award for Best Actress for Roman Holiday in 1954.
Leaving the world of film and theatre at the height of her career, Audrey Hepburn later became an ambassador for UNICEF, actively drawing attention to the struggles 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 led her in a different direction. Growing up in Yakutia, she moved to Moscow and entered the M.S. Shchepkin Higher Theatre School, studying 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 the main company four years afterward.
On the Studio Stage, she initiated and performed in the one-woman show Miss Nobody from Alabama, about the dramatic fate of Zelda Sayre, wife and muse of F. Scott Fitzgerald. She also helped create productions such as Frida. Life in Colorand Nijinsky. Brilliant Idiot, in which she played the title roles. Among her notable performances on the Vakhtangov stage were 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 staging 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 — takes place on April 27 on the Studio Stage.