Nikolay Pavlovich Okhlopkov (; 15 May 1900, in Irkutsk – 8 January 1967, in Moscow), was a Soviet and Russian actor and theatre director who patterned his work after Meyerhold. People's Artist of the USSR (1948). Okhlopkov was born in Irkutsk, Siberia and started his acting career there in 1918. Since 1930, he directed the Realistic Theatre in Moscow, although his directing style was hardly realistic: he was the first to place spectators on the stage around the actors, in order to restore intimacy between the audience and the company. In 1938, his theatre was closed and he moved to the Vakhtangov Theatre. In 1943 he established the Mayakovsky Theatre, which continues his traditions to this day. Okhlopkov was awarded six Stalin Prizes. He also directed a production of Hamlet at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1954, the first time this play was staged there since World War II. Selected filmography The Bay of Death (1926) Lenin in October (1937) Alexander Nevsky (1938) Lenin in 1918 (1939) Yakov Sverdlov (1940) Kutuzov (1943) Light over Russia (1947) Tale of a True Man (1948) Far from Moscow (1950) The Lights of Baku (1950) References External links Official site of the Mayakovsky Theatre 1900 births 1967 deaths Stalin Prize winners People's Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the USSR Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Soviet theatre directors Russian male film actors Soviet male film actors Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery