Russian theatre director Fomenko, founder of one of Moscow's most popular theatres, dies at 80
MOSCOW - Pyotr Fomenko, a renowned Russian stage director who founded one of Moscow's leading theatres, has died.
Fomenko, who staged more than 60 plays in Russian and foreign theatres during his career, died in Moscow on Thursday at age 80, his theatre said. The cause of death wasn't immediately known.
Fomenko began his career as an actor in 1958. He became a director in the 1960s, staging performances at several Moscow theatres before taking helm of the Leningrad Comedy Theater in the 1970s.
In 1993, Fomenko founded his own theatre, whose troupe consisted of students at Moscow's theatre academy where he worked as a teacher. The Pyotr Fomenko Workshop Theater quickly became popular thanks to his innovative approach to classics.
President Vladimir Putin called Fomenko's death was an "irreparable loss."
