Biography

Biography.

Guzeeva Maria

Born in Moscow on October 16, 1982, Maria took an active interest in childrens’ performances and concerts in her early school years. She later played the role of Soloha in Village Evenings near Dikanka, a play based on Nikolay Gogol’s short stories, Ellen in War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, the princess in the well-known fairy tale The Twelve Months and Scheherazade in One Thousand and One Nights.

At the same time period Maria successfully wrote, staged, directed and played the leading role in an adventure for teenagers set in the time of the dinosaurs entitled The Cretaceous Period.

In 1999 Maria’s dream came true when she was accepted into the Higher Theatre Institute, named after M. S. Schepkin, and managed under the State Academic Maly Theatre. She acquired the opportunity to showcase her talent by portraying a wide variety of roles ranging from comical to tragic and from character to heroic.

She played Abby in Desire under the Elms by O’Neill, a femme fatale who murders her own infant in order to prove the depth of her feeling for her lover and also Aunt Mamaeva in Even a Wise Man Stumbles by Ostrovsky. Further roles were Akulina Krasavina (the matchmaker), in The Marriage of Balsaminov by Ostrovsky and Vasilisa in Gorky’s The Lower Depths (Na Dne) as well as Graziella in Lies Have Long Legs by Eduardo de Filippo.

Since 2003 Maria has been working at the State Film and Drama Theatre in Moscow where she has had parts in the following productions:
• Cuckoo's Tears by Leo Tolstoy, directed by D.Gornik, as Anuta;
• Saint Boy directed by E. Tarasova, as Putana, the daughter of the Lord of Darkness;
• The Last Don Juan by E. Radzinsky directed by M. Gorevoi, as Donna Anna
• Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare, directed by I.Yatsko, as Marianna;
• The Dog in the Manger by Lope de Vega, directed by I.Yatsko, in which she played three characters Dorotea, Camilo and Celio;
• The Marriage of Figaro by Beaumarchais, as Countess Almaviva;
• Paradox on the Actor directed by V. Terelya;
• Piter-Moscow-Paris a comedy directed by Peter Belyshkov and many others.

Currently Maria has played the role Miss Eynsford Hills in Pavel Safonov’s production of Shaw’s Pygmalion as well as the role of Carmen in the musical comedy Carmen - consisting of arias from Bizet’s Carmen and Puccini’s Tosca accompanied by a Jazz-Balalaika band and a potpourri of popular songs from Edith Piaf.

FILM and TV:
Maria first appeared in film in her student years when she played Maria in the TV series People and Shadows directed by V. Shilovsky After graduation from the Institute she was engaged by Melpomene at the State Film and Drama Theatre to play a character role in V. Panin’s film On the River Devitsa where she had the honour to work and perform with many of the brilliant actors who represent a certain epoch in Russian cinema such as Juri Nazarov, Galina Polskih, Vladimir Konkin, Pavel Vinnik, Alexander Piatkov and Spartak Mishulin. This was to be the final performance of Spartak Mishulin. Maria plays the character Margo, a girl who moves from a big city to the village and opens a shop in a place where the library had been before. She consequently manages to win over the hearts of the villagers.

Later, Maria took a role in a film about the Great Patriotic War -World War II , Govorit Moskva (Moscow Speaks or Moscow on Air) directed by A. Surin. Her heroine Anastsia Polyakova is the commander of an all-female sniper troop – a small but closely-knit team eager to defend the motherland.

In the TV series Loneliness of Love directed by V. Merezhko, she plays a young girl with a strong and powerful character who, with almost no experience in relationships, comically advises her friend on how to treat her husband, which nearly results in divorce.

One should mention Farewell Dr. Chekhov, in which Maria portrays the actress L.Yavorskaya, the mistress of A. Chekhov whose life was full of wild passion, joys, sorrow and despair reminiscent of a firework display or a volcano erupting unexpectedly with emotions and mood changes. Despite her energy and impetuosity she was a vulnerable and sensitive person. Renowned from the beginning of her career, Yavorskaya had lost everything by the end of her life and spent her final years alone in a foreign land.

Maria is currently co-staring in the "Kerosene Cowboys" movie by Mario Van Peebles (for more information see "MASS MEDIA" and "VIDEO" sections).

Maria enjoys many hobbies and activities. She is a passionate ski and snowboarder and is equally at home on an aqua bike or when horse riding.

As a child Maria attended regular dance classes and also learnt choreography and ballroom dancing. Now she prefers Spanish flamenco for its passion and colour as well as its long history and tradition in the Gipsy culture.
Maria’s native language is Russian and she also speaks English. She studied acting in the New York Film Academy (the USA).