Vakhtangov Theatre Reflects on the Price of Audrey Hepburn’s Fame
May 8, 2026 — Guliya Nurlybaeva
How far can ambition and aspiration lead a person? What drives someone to seek recognition, success, and worldwide fame? These are the questions explored in the Vakhtangov Theatre production I Created Audrey Hepburn, directed by Adelina Gizatullina.
On stage are two people: mother and daughter — Baroness Ella van Heemstra (Elena Sotnikova) and Audrey Hepburn (Anna Chumak). In what initially appears to be a harmonious dialogue, pauses, contradictions, and eventually conflict begin to emerge. What is this? Competition between Audrey and her mother? Emotional exhaustion on both sides? We witness strict maternal control, the denial of the daughter’s right to weakness or failure, and relentless criticism from the mother that at times borders on cruelty.
There is no simple answer. Perhaps all of this stems merely from a sincere desire to secure a better life for her daughter. Audrey’s dutiful obedience, her twenty-four-hour devotion to work, the constant tension of all her physical and emotional resources — everything is sacrificed on the altar of ambition. Grueling ballet training, injuries, the rejection of personal happiness… And finally, the summit of global fame: the flourishing of an acting career and immense popularity. All of it was what the mother herself had once desired but could never attain because of motherhood. Her daughter — the legendary Hollywood star Audrey Hepburn — fulfilled that dream after enduring years of discipline, pressure, restrictions, and relentless training.
The sound of camera shutters during interviews with the world-famous actress gradually transforms into a continuous mechanical rhythm, resembling the ticking mechanism of a wind-up toy that, under constant strain, may eventually break.
I Created Audrey Hepburn shows how a strong personality is shaped — one prepared for self-sacrifice in pursuit of a great goal. After watching the performance, the audience is left with an unavoidable question: were all these sacrifices — loneliness, endless labor, constant self-denial — truly justified by the achievement of worldwide fame?
Each viewer answers this question differently. And that is precisely why this production is worth seeing. Perhaps for some audience members, it may even help illuminate an important choice in their own lives.
Guliya Nurlybaeva
Specially for Musecube