Penza, 29 August 2015. PenzaNews. Mikhail Kaplan, People’s Artist of Russia and a favorite of the Penza theater-going audience, has turned 83 on Saturday, August 29.

The troupe of the Penza regional Lunacharsky Drama Theater has wished the artist sound health, happiness and long life.

“Even though Mikhail Yakovlevich [Kaplan] has been living in Israel for nearly two years for his long-term medical treatment, he never lost any ties with the theater and always takes interest in the Penza events,” says the message published at the website of the Drama Theater.

According to it, Mikhail Kaplan met his colleagues during the visit of the Penza artists to Israel to show their play “Funny Money.”

“And Mikhail Yakovlevich had another happy event: he became a twice great-grandfather on May 31. Now the great-granddaughter Masha is accompanied by the newborn great-grandson Ivan who was born to the family of Mikhail Yakovlevich’s grandson Anton Makarsky and his wife Victoria,” it reads.