Playing with an open visor

Abstract

To the 100th anniversary of Leonid Zorin's birth. 

He composed poems, opera librettos, novels, writing them down the old-fashioned way – with an “eternal pen” on paper. He lived 95 years. He left 49 plays, nine of which he considered truly successful. He is considered one of those who defined the face of Russian theater in the second half of the 20th century.   And despite the fact that the fate of the works dearest to his heart was difficult, and sometimes even sad, he retained a good feeling for the theater, considered his life a success and thanked the higher powers that he was doing what he loved.

Leonid Zorin entered the drama industry in the late 1940s, when the good fought with the best on stage. The first play by a correspondence student at the literary institute was immediately accepted for production by the Maly Theatre. After the premiere, the newly-minted playwright promised himself that "youth" would remain his "only well-intentioned song." He kept his promise.