State Academic Central Puppet Theater named after S.V. Obraztsov

Among the numerous cultural, historical, spiritual riches of Russia, the name of Sergei Vladimirovich Obraztsov and the State Academic Central Puppet Theater created by him is familiar to every Russian, and fame is thundering around the world. It is an indisputable fact that the Obraztsov Theatre is an invaluable Russian national treasure. During the existence of the theater it was visited by millions of children and adults, dozens of heads of state and government of different countries, hundreds of outstanding figures of art, culture, science. Among them: Gerard Philip, Yves Montana, Sophia Loren, Indira Gandhi, Edward Kennedy, etc. The Academic Central Puppet Theatre was established at the Central House of Artistic Education of Children on September 16, 1931. Initially, it employed 12 people, and from the first day of its creation it was headed by an outstanding figure of Russian art, actor, director, artist, writer - Sergey Vladimirovich Obraztsov. People’s Artist of the USSR, State Prize Laureate S. V. Obraztsov (1901-1992) was known, loved and remembered by millions of people not only in Russia, but also in many countries of the world. His “Exemplary” dolls were greeted with enthusiasm and are still met in hundreds of cities on all continents. Thanks to the Theatre of Sergei Obraztsov, in the Russian Federation, CIS countries, “near” and “far” abroad, in the twentieth century, a whole system, culture, a network of state professional puppet theaters appeared, which were created on the basis of the standard that was the S.V. Obraztsov GACTK. Being a legislator of the level of acting, directing, artistic, technical performance, Sergey Vladimirovich Obraztsov and his Theatre actually created a world professional puppet theater in the form and quality that exists today in Russian and foreign theater culture. Achievements, finds, directions, methods, traditions, performances, plays that arose in the Obraztsov Theatre were transferred to other theaters of the former Soviet Union - regional and city, as well as many foreign puppet theaters. As a result of the truly titanic work of this Master - one of the most famous figures of Russian and world culture of the twentieth century, the phenomenon of the State Academic Central Puppet Theater - the House of Sergei Obraztsov - arose and continues to live. He raised and educated several generations of brilliant actors, directors, set designers, artists, master puppeteers and playwrights of the puppet theater, many of whom still work in theaters of our country, in dozens of countries of the world. July 5, 2001 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Sergei Vladimirovich Obraztsov. September 16, 1931 – “Obraztsov Theatre” was born on the initiative of the House of Art Education of Children, but the creative “credo” of the new theater, in addition to educational and pedagogical tasks, included the following item: “GTSTC should become a theater-laboratory that moves forward the development of the puppet genre.” Neither the scarcity of material resources nor the lack of its own stage did not prevent the experiments of a small team of twelve people led by Sergei Obraztsov. Every year, the audience got acquainted with two or even three new productions of the young theater. The car with the inscription "GTSTK" transported actors with dolls to Moscow yards, schools, parks, houses of culture. The theater used traditional forms of performances - the last "mogicans" of the fair show were specially invited to the troupe, the last actors of the national puppet theater - parsleyman I.A. Zaitsev, who played a puppet play "Circus on the Stage" together with his wife A.D. Triganova. The real premiere of the young theater on April 17, 1932 was the propaganda performance "Jim and the Dollar" (artist T. Alexandrov) - based on a play specially written by A. Globa for the troupe. So the theater began to search for its repertoire, creating original designs of puppets and stage design, freely varying the stylistics of performances - from agitational performance to a folk tale. Permeated with a carnival and fairy-tale atmosphere, the play “According to the Pike Order” (artists S. Obraztsov and V. Terekhov), staged in 1936 – with a unique design of a round screen – many theater critics perceived “the main puppet performance of the twentieth century”, applying Meyerhold’s discoveries. The performances of the puppet theater delighted the audience with lively artistry and innovative ingenuity. Within a few years, the theater became so popular that in 1937 the government decided to provide the company with premises in the center of Moscow on Mayakovsky Square. The theater by that time not only replenished its staff, but also created its own museum, which later became a unique treasury of dolls. In 1940, the theater puts “The Magic Lamp of Aladdin” – the most beautiful performance of the theater, fascinating with the magic of miraculous transformations, delightful colorfulness and expressiveness of graceful dolls (artist Boris Tuzlukov). Subsequently, Sergei Obraztsov will call these three performances “The Seagulls” of his puppet theater. "Traditional way" - as a result of the experiment - there was in 1946 the most famous masterpiece of the Master of puppetry, listed in the Guinness Book of Records - a satirical review "Extraordinary concert", widely using the parody possibilities of puppets (artists V. Andrievich and V. Terekhov). The satirical genre was mastered by the theater during the war, when groups of actors of the SCTC went to the location of the acting army and showed soldiers the “Front Program” from parody sketches on political topics. After the war, the theater continued to work in Moscow, while expanding its touring activities. Under the direct influence of the SCC tour, state puppet theaters were created in a number of countries – Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Czech Republic. Since 1956, the Obraztsov Theatre has been a regular participant in international puppet festivals held under the auspices of UNIMA. In 1970, the theater moved to a new building on the Garden Ring - an architectural complex that was the standard for all stationary puppet theaters of the world (a complex sliding curtain, transforming walls of the hall, allowing to "encircle" the viewer with dolls, "running" sound). Magnificent metal watches adorning the facade have become the hallmark of the theater. Every hour the doors in the box houses around the clock dial are opened alternately, and twelve animals – fairy-tale characters – are greeted to the music “In the garden, in the garden” in the arrangement of N. Bogoslovsky gathered in front of the theater. All animals appear only twice, at noon and at midnight. The authors of the watch are sculptors Dmitry Shakhovskaya and Pavel Shimes, the mechanism was invented by Benjamin Calmanson. They say that the theater begins with a hanger, but the Obraztsov Theater begins with the Museum of Theater Puppets. Spectators come to it long before the start of the performance and are interested in the unique collection. The date of foundation of the Museum is considered to be September 16, 1937, when the theater parted with the “wandering life” and received its own building on Mayakovsky Square, where there was everything necessary for work: an auditorium, workshops, rehearsal rooms, but, in addition, a balcony in the hall. Since it is impossible to place spectators on the balcony in the puppet theater, otherwise virtuoso work will cease to be a secret for the audience, it was decided to place an exhibition of puppets on the balcony fenced off from the hall. These were the dolls of the creators of the Moscow Professional Puppet Theater N.Y. and I.S. Efimov, the dolls of the first performances of the SCTC, but the very first to the audience appeared dolls and props of the last stray puppeteer of Russia Ivan Afinogenovich Zaitsev. These were puppets from the show “Circus on the Stage”, and the characters of the folk puppet comedy “Petrushka”, and the charmer of the late XIX century. The first head and active collector of the Museum was the actor and director of the theater Andrei Yakovlevich Fedotov. His choice for the position of head was more than successful. A connoisseur of the puppet theater and a passionate collector, Andrei Yakovlevich began to collect a museum collection that could reflect the history of the puppet theater in the past and present. In the museum work of Andrei Yakovlevich was surrounded by enthusiastic people in love with puppets and theatrical art, among which one of the leading places is taken by Vselod Valerianovich Kurdyumov, who for a long time was the deputy head of the museum. The exhibition of puppets, which soon occupied not only the balcony, but also the foyer of the theater, of course, aroused increasing interest and an increasing number of questions from visitors. The staff of the theater began to conduct excursions before performances, give lectures on the history of puppet theater, participate in conferences and seminars. Thanks to communication with puppeteers at conferences, tours around the country and abroad, materials on theaters of many countries of the world began to flock to the Museum. For decades, the State Academic Central Puppet Theatre has become the world’s largest puppet center, with two buildings on the Garden Ring of the capital, two stages, the most complete and only library in Russia, where all the known literature about dolls is collected, the world’s largest Museum of theatrical puppets of all known systems from antiquity to the present day, where there is not a single copy – all originals, archives of priceless documents, photos, photo, video, audio, film funds.