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Moscow Theater

Moscow Theater

Moscow theater originally was inspired by folk entertainment. Peasant companies performed for serfs and nobility alike, sometimes traveling from estate to estate. Later Moscow theater was influenced by foreign models much like the ballet. The first Russian dramatists appeared in about 1750. Under Catherine the Great, herself an author of comedies, theater reached new highs, but most of the works were of foreign origin. Great Russian comedy came in the 1800s with the work of Aleksandr Griboedov ('Woe from Wit', 1833) and Nikolai Gogol ('The Inspector General', 1836).

At the end of the century Konstantin Stanislavsky founded the Moscow Art Theatre, where Moscow theater art came of age. Realistic plays produced there, among them the works of Chekhov and Gorki, stimulated the modern "method" school of acting. Nonrealistic Moscow theater, called conditional theater by producer-director-actor Vsevolod Meyerhold, flourished through the early Soviet period. As in literature under Stalin, experimental theater was replaced by socialist realism. Not until the Gorbachev administration was the performance of controversial works permitted at any Moscow theater.

Most Moscow theaters have performances in the Russian language, although recently English language productions have become popular especially among musicals.

 

Chekhov Moscow Art Theater (MKHAT)
3 Kamergersky per., Moscow, Russia
Phone: 095/229-8760

Founded in 1898 by the celebrated actors and directors Konstantin Stanislavsky and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, the MKhAT is famous for its productions of the Russian classics, especially those of Chekhov. Keep an eye out for the The American Studio at the Chekhov Art Theater, which presents performances, typically Russian classics, in English a few times a year on the theater's new stage. www.chekhov.ru. Metro: Okhotny Ryad.

 

Estrada Theater
20/2 Bersenyovskaya nab., Moscow, Russia
Phone: 095/959-0456

The curtain goes up here for the best Russian stand-up comics along with a number of variety shows. Metro: Biblioteka Imeni Lenina.

 

Lenkom Theater
6 Malaya Dmitrovka ul., Moscow, Russia
Phone: 095/299-0708 or 095/299-1261

Good, often flashy productions are on the playbill here. Tickets are frequently very hard to get hold of. Metro: Pushkinskaya.

 

Maly Theater
69 Bolshaya Ordynka ul., Moscow, Russia
Phone: 095/923-2621

Moscow 's first dramatic theater, the Maly is famous for its staging of Russian classics, especially those of Ostrovsky -- his statue stands outside the building. Metro: Teatralnaya.

 

Mossoviet Theater
16 Bolshaya Sadovaya ul., Moscow, Russia
Phone: 095/299-2035 or 095/200-5943

Contemporary drama shares the stage with comedies and musicals here. Metro: Mayakovskaya.

 

Taganka Theater
76 Zemlyanoy Val, Moscow, Russia
Phone: 095/915-1217 or 095/915-1015

Run by the legendary Yuri Lyubimov, the Taganka is one of world's most famous theaters. The troupe's most redoubtable dramatization is of Mikhil Bulgakov's novel The Master and the Margarita. Be warned: performances sell out far in advance. Metro: Taganskaya.

 

Sovreminik Theater
19A Chistoprudny bulvar, Moscow, Russia
Phone: 095/921-6629 or 095/921-6473

Not as influential as it once was, the troupe still presents plays of high quality. Metro: Chistiye Prudy.