Distinguished Artist of Russia

Kuznetsova graduated from the Leningrad State Institute of Theatre, Music, and Cinematography named after N.K. Cherkasov (I. Gorbachev’s class) and has been an actress of the Alexandrinsky Theater since 1975. On this stage, she played more than seventy roles in performances after writings of Russian and foreign authors. Among those were Militsa (A Melody for a Peacock by Zagradnik, 1978), Svetlana (Justice is my Profession by L. Zhukhovitsky, 1978), Chrisotemida (My Love Electra, by L. Dyurko, 1979), Babakina (Ivanov by A. Chekhov, 1979),  Gwen (Airport by A. Heily, 1979), Katya (A Forest Verandah by I. Dvoretskiy, 1979), Ingrid (Per Gynt By H. Ibsen, 1983), Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing by W. Shakespeare, 1985), Cleonica (Lisistrata by Aristophanes, 1989), Missis Eynsford Hill, (Pygmalion by B. Shaw, 1998), Elena (Trees Dye Standing by A. Kasona, 2001), Manefa (No Man Is Wise at All Times by A. Ostrovsky, 2002),  Missis Crowley (Vanity Fair by W. Thackeray, 2002), and others. Kuznetsova’s performance of modern Russian characters in M. Gavrilova’s writings (Deceptions and The Three Sisters and Uncle Vanya), and roles in foreign plays (Molly Probst, Sheet Lightnings by D. Kahl; Mother, Fire Faced by M. von Meihenburg) had also attracted public attention. Maria Kuznetsova is broadly known to public by her cinema parts in Alexander Sokurov’s films: Nadezhda Krupskaya (The Calf) and Catherine II (The Russian Arch), which received numerous Russian and international awards. 

Presently, the actress’s repertoire includes the role of Anna Pavlovna, mother of Liza Protasova, in the performance The Living Corps by L. Tolstoy (Director Valery Fokin, 2006); Fyokla Ivanovna, the Matchmaker, in N. Gogol’s The Marriage (Director Valery Fokin, 2008); and the role of Marina Timofeievna, the Old Nanny at the Voinitskys’ (Uncle Vanya by A. Chekhov, Director Andrey Serban, 2009).

Maria Kuznetsova was honored with the title of Distinguished Artist of Russia (Verdict of the President of the Russian Federation as of April 3, 2005).