He was born in Tbilisi on July 31, 1938. Graduated from the directorial faculty of the Tbilisi Theatre Institute. Since 1962 he has worked at the Shota Rustaveli Theatre. Since 1979 - chief director of the theater, since 1980 - its artistic director.
Already student works of Sturois – “Mr. Leonardo in the face of reaction” and “Where subtly, there and tears” – revealed the talent and perspective of the young director. In 1965, on the stage of the Shota Rustaveli Theatre, he staged the Salem Process by A. Miller, this production brought him his first real success. Possession of theatrical form was revealed in another performance – “Stepmother Samanishvili” by D. Kldiyashvili, made by him together with T. Chkheidze. Sturua’s fascination with the game element of the theater was manifested in the play Hanuma – a witty, cheerful performance in which realistic comic characters organically existed according to the rules of conditional play.
In the 1970s, the term Robert Sturois Theatre appeared. In Kvarkar by P. Kakabadze, the director inserts a scene from B. Brecht’s The Career of Arturo Ui. The “Brechtian” period in his work begins, the “period of total modeling” of reality. The image-mask, which first appeared in this performance, was embodied by Ramaz Chkhikvadze. With this artist, Sturois made two of his brilliant performances: Richard III by W. Shakespeare (1979) and the Caucasian Cretaceous Circle by B. Brecht (1975), which brought him world fame.
In the 1980s, Sturua puts a lot: “The role for a novice actress” T. Chiladze (1980), “Blue horses on red grass” M. Shatrov (1980), “Variations on a modern theme” R. Sturua, L. Popkhadze, A. Varsimashvili (1981), “Funeral in California” R. Ibragimbekov (1983), etc. Important in his creative biography was “King Lear” (1987), the main role in which Ramaz Chkhikvadze brilliantly performed. In this performance, Sturua’s penchant for philosophical direction was manifested, in which the carnival perception of the world carried a sense of a tragic ending. In Calderón’s 1992 play Life is a Dream, the world expanded to include metaphysical reality. Then there was The Good Man of Sichuan (1993). In 1994, Sturua puts “The Gospel of Jacob” according to the primer Yakov Semenovich Gogebashvili (“Georgian ABC”, 1865). In 1996, a play on the lyrical and mythological drama Lamara by G. Robakidze was released, in 1997 - Well, so that the wet lilac is by L. Tabukashvili, which is popular with the young audience. In 1998, he staged with the young director D. Sakvarelidze “Snake Woman” K. Gozzi. In the same year in Moscow, Sturois released Hamlet in Satyricon with K. Raikin in the title role. In 2000, at the Shota Rustaveli Theatre, he staged three performances: Is He a Man? Chavchavadze, Twelfth Night and Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Sturua has two permanent collaborators: artist Georgy Alexi-Meskhishvili and composer Gia Kancheli.
Sturois worked abroad, performed 16 plays of Shakespeare, Sophocles, Molière, Chekhov, Brecht in different theaters of the world. Winner of many theater awards of Georgia, State Prizes of the USSR and Georgia. In total, Robert Sturois staged more than 80 performances.