Moscow Drama Theatre named after M. N. Ermolova

The theater named after M. N. Ermolova is located in an ancient building, the basis of the facade part of which is one of the largest mansions on Tverskaya Street, built in the 1830s. With some changes, the two-storey house with a mezzanine in the center lasted until 1897, when the merchant Postnikov rebuilt it, turning it into a shopping passage and placing the hotel in the upper floors. Here in 1931-1938 was located Gostim (theater named after V. E. Meyerhold). Within the walls of this building was born the famous production of “Lady with Camellia”. On this stage played young Igor Ilyinsky, Erast Garin, Zinaida Reich, Maria Babanova, Lev Sverdlin, Maxim Strauch... Here, on January 7 and 8, 1938, the last two performances of Gostim took place: “The Lady with the Camellia” and “The Inspector General”. Today in the house at the address Tverskaya street, house 5, three scenes: Small and Big halls and stage playground in the Museum. The repertoire includes performances based on the works of Russian and foreign classics, modern authors. In each of them there are wonderful acting works, the created images reflect the life of the human spirit. Theatre fights for man, denying everything that humiliates his dignity, affirming kindness, human truth, the truth of life. “The truth,” said A. M. Lobanov, “is a constant search for it.” Today, young artists work alongside the older generation of Yermolovtsy. The continuity of generations is what the theatre has always been. The main thing in the work of the Yermolovites is the most ordinary person with all his weaknesses and vices, with his conflicts, suffering and happiness. What remains is what the theater has always talked about: good and evil, love and hatred, power and fate. On the second floor of the Theater named after M. N. Ermolova there is a museum of posters, costumes, photographs... Smart faces of talented people. You pass by, look at the photos, read old programs, posters - and it is as if you hear in the foyer the steps of those who created the history of this theater, whose names have become legend, who lived and died on stage in the name of beautiful and eternal art. And it becomes sad that you can not look behind the curtain of time to at least one eye to see the performances that have become legend. But there is always a chance to imagine what it was like. Careful attitude to one’s history and faithfulness to creative principles in the work of today’s Yermolovsky artists is not just a tribute to respect, memory, but also an incentive to conquer new heights of art, a means to survive and not get lost in difficult times, not always favorable for any stage activity. There are names whose meaning becomes clearer with each passing year: Khmelev, Lobanov. Life changes, generations change, new performances are created, new discoveries are made. But memory remains unchanged. Without the past, there is no present. In an empty place, nothing worthwhile can arise. Therefore, Ermolova’s eyes in Serov’s portrait are so attentive to everyone who walks through the foyer of the theater. These eyes saw things to be proud of and to renounce. It is a symbol of true art bequeathed to the future. And what it will be, how we dispose of the precious gift, depends only on us.