Puppet Theatre - Astrakhan State

The main service of the theater is the rental of performances of the ongoing repertoire at the hospital. In addition, outdoor performances in rural areas of the region, tours in Russia and abroad are organized. The theater participates in Russian and international festivals, hosts theater groups from cities of Russia and abroad. Actors of the theater perform concert numbers at city events. The theater regularly hosts meetings with the audience, conversations and excursions. Art exhibitions are held regularly. Astrakhan State Puppet Theatre was founded in December 1986. The first season opened on November 28, 1987 with the play “Winners” based on the play by P. Vysotsky. The theater was headed by artistic director, Honored Artist of Russia Vladimir Fedorovich Dolgopolov and director, Honored Worker of Culture of Russia Lyubov Vasilievna Geskina. The first years of the performances were held in the premises of the Astrakhan Garrison House of Officers, and the administration and services were in the building of the former guardhouse on the territory of the Astrakhan Kremlin. This created certain inconveniences for both the audience and the theater staff. In 1992, the theater moved to the reconstructed building (authors of the reconstruction project V. Dolgopolov and A. Tikhonov) at the intersection of Rosa Luxemburg and Fioletov streets, where it is still located. Over the years, the theater has staged more than sixty performances for children and adults. First of all, these are classic plays: “The Golden Key” by A. Tolstoy, “The Princess of the Frog” by N. Gernet, “The Cat’s House” by S. Marshak and others. In the repertoire of many plays by modern Russian and foreign authors: "Sun and snow men" A Veselova, “Dog Joy” by M. Suponin, “Aybolite” by A. Usacheva, “Sunbeam” by A. Popescu (Romania), “Courageous Jojo” by K. Krstov (Bulgaria), “Jumping Princess” by L. Dvorsky (Czech Republic). The theater took part in the festival of independent acting works (Nizhny Novgorod, 1993), "Art-Visit" (Krasnodar, 1999), 7 international festival of theaters for children (Subotica, Yugoslavia, 2001), "Silver Sturgeon" (Volgograd, 2001), "Podilska Lyalka" (Vinica, Ukraine, 2005, 2007). Currently, in the theater, in addition to the main stage, a “small” stage is open for the presentation of chamber performances and independent acting works. The “Museum of Puppets” opened, where dolls from non-going performances that have become the history of the theater are exhibited. The workers of the theater were repeatedly awarded by the Governor of the Astrakhan region and the mayor of Astrakhan. Artistic Director V. Dolgopolov was awarded the honorary title “Honored Artist of Russia”. A number of actors received the title “Honored Artist of Russia”, “Honored Worker of Culture of Russia”. Currently, the theater has many projects, one of the significant is the organization and holding in Astrakhan of the international festival of puppet theaters “Caspian Coast”, which would take part in the theaters of the Caspian region.