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Native of Odesa, Ukraine, Yuri (Yura) Kordonsky holds M.F.A. degrees in Acting and Directing from the St. Petersburg State Academy of Theatre Arts, where he studied under Lev Dodin, as well as an MS in Applied Mathematics and Computer Studies from Odesa State University and an M.A. Ad Eundem Gradum from Wesleyan University. He has taught, performed, and directed internationally since 1989 and was a resident actor and director at Maly Drama Theatre-Theatre of Europe in St. Petersburg until 2001.

His directing credits include authors such as Chekhov, Kafka, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Lorca, Shakespeare, Ibsen, Sophocles, Marquez, Konwicki, Sanaev, and Ionesco across Russia, Romania, Hungary, Germany, Luxembourg, the Philippines, and the U.S., including notable productions such as Uncle Vanya, The Cherry Orchard, Metamorphosis, The Marriage, Crime and Punishment, House of Bernarda Alba, Romeo and Juliet, Peer Gynt, Oedipus Rex, and The Bald Soprano at Bulandra Theatre (Bucharest), Maly Drama Theatre (St. Petersburg), National Hungarian Theatre (Cluj), German National Theatre (Timisoara), Yale Rep Theatre, and Wesleyan University.

Yura’s productions have won numerous international awards, including Golden Light, Governor’s Award, and Bravo Award for Best Production (Russia); the Union of European Theatres’ Award for Best Production (Italy); multiple UNITER Awards for Best Production and Best Director; and the Special Prize of the Romanian Ministry of Culture (Romania).

As a performer and director, Yura has toured in more than twenty countries and taught acting and directing worldwide. Since moving to the U.S. in 2001 with his family, he has taught at Wesleyan University — where he served as Professor and Chair of the Theater Department — as well as at Columbia University, UC San Diego, George Washington University, and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. 

He is currently Associate Chair and Professor of Directing at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University.


In this intensive three-day acting workshop, participants will enter the painful and restless world of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya — a masterpiece of subtext, silence, and suppressed desires. Using Act Two of the play as a laboratory, we will explore one of the oldest tensions in human nature: the gap between what people say and what they truly mean, between what they long for and what they allow themselves to pursue. Through rigorous scene work, participants will uncover the emotional truth hidden beneath the text.

Approximately 14–16 participants will have the opportunity to work directly with scenes from the play, script in hand, while the remaining attendees will observe and take part in discussions and analysis. Participants are kindly asked to read Uncle Vanya before attending the workshop.

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Event in English
United States

ACCES BY REGISTRATION, SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY
BY REGISTERING FOR THIS WORKSHOP, PARTICIPANTS AGREE TO ATTEND ALL THREE DAYS
REGISTRATIONS CAN BE DONE FROM MAY 28, 2026 UNTIL JUNE 10, 2026 AT THE ADDRESS constantin.gajim@ulbsibiu.ro