Trivia

Galina Volchek was a daughter of the cameraman and director Boris Volchek.

Volchek directed over thirty productions. Among them were Russian and world classics, works of contemporary domestic and foreign authors.

After graduation from a theater school, Volchek in 1956 co-founded the Sovremennik together with Igor Kvasha, Oleg Tabakov, Oleg Yefremov and Yevgeny Yevstigneyev. The theater's cutting edge performances shaped the Soviet theater scene in the 1960s, becoming a symbol of a short-lived liberal "thaw.".

Volchek made her debut as a theater director in 1962. In 1972, she became the chief director of the Sovremennik, a job she held until her death.

She was repeatedly invited to productions in theaters in Germany, Finland, Ireland, the US, Hungary, Poland and other countries.

Her second husband Mark Abelev was a doctor of technical sciences, professor of Moscow State University of Civil Engineering, and winner of the State Prize of the Soviet Union.

Galina Volchek said: I had two husbands, several romances and one fallacy.

She was engaged many times in theater pedagogy activities abroad.

Volchek was elected a deputy into the State Duma in 1995, where she became a member of the Committee on Culture. In 1999 Volchek left the parliament.