Drama Theatre

Moscow’s drama theatres are a vital part of the Russian capital’s cultural life and a national source of pride. Today, theatregoers can choose among over fifty drama theatres in Moscow. Some of them were established before the Russian Revolution of 1917, lived both moments of glory and Soviet censorship and has kept alive time-honoured traditions. Others are just setting out on their artistic journey but they have already managed to assert themselves and to familiarize the public with new talented directors and actors. At the helm of Moscow’s theatres are well-known theatre directors and actors such as Yuri Solomin, Tatyana Doronina, Mark Zakharov, Roman Viktyuk, Aleksandr Kalyagin, Konstantin Raykin, Galina Volchek, Oleg Menshikov and Gennady Khazanov. The contribution of these outstanding personalities to the cultural development of Russian theatre and moviegoers cannot be overemphasized.

The Russian Army Theatre.

Theatre has given performances on military and patriotic topics for almost a hundred years. In this remarkable Stalinist building, spectators attend stage performances of historical fiction that is familiar to all Russians nationwide: The Dawns Here Are Quiet by B. Vasilyev, The Front by A. Korneychuk, People of Stalingrad by Y. Chepurin and The Sevastopol March by L. Tostoy. The Theatre also gives stage performances about ordinary people who knew war (Sanya, Vanya, Rimas is with them)

Konstantin Stanislavski (1863 – 1938) and his colleague Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko (1858 – 1943) are Russian stage directors who made a major contribution to the theory and practice of international drama. Their names are still well-known worldwide. Many present-day theatres in Moscow, including Anton Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre, Maxim Gorky Moscow Art Theatre and Stanislavski Electrotheatre, date back to the time when these celebrated theatrical personalities collaborated with each other on drama.

The Moscow Art Theatre School is named after Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, a celebrated Russian theatre director, professor, playwright and drama critic. His memory is perpetuated in the building where Nemirovich-Danchenko spent the last five years of his life, now a museum. Many of his personal belongings are on display in this exciting museum steeped in the atmosphere of that distant age in which the Moscow Art Theatre and Russian school of acting were created.

ТAlexey Bakhrushin State Theatre Museum.

Merchant and patron of the arts Alexey Bakhrushin (1865-1929) perpetuated his name by handing over his collection of theatre-related artworks to Russia and the Russian Academy of Sciences. Throughout the 20th century, the collection was constantly updated, and the Museum’s exhibition halls were revamped in 2017. The Museum is located in Moscow’s scenic district, Zamoskvorechye, in an English Neo-Gothic mansion built by K. Gippius and once owned by Alexey Bakhrushin himself.

Alexander Ostrovsky House Museum.

Russian writer Alexander Ostrovsky (1823-1886) is an iconic figure in the Russian theatre and the founder of Russian drama. The museum dedicated to Ostrovsky in Moscow’s Zamoskvorechye will be of interest not only to literature lovers, as the building and its interiors provide visitors with an excellent overview of what this merchant district in Moscow was like back in the 19th century. Many people feel the spirit of that time and a sense of immersion into the old Russian theatre.