Theatre On Litein

In 1909, on the site of the ancient arena of Count Sheremetev, the Liteinsky Theater began its work, the repertoire of which was composed of plays of the Theater of Horrors, Farce, Satire, and Parody. The foundry theater in the early twentieth century served as a platform for reformatory experiments of V. Meyerhold, N. Evreinov, M. Fokin, M. Kuzmin. The performances were designed by L. Bakst, I. Bilibin, B. Kustodiev – the best artists of the World of Art. The name of the theater was constantly changing: in 1911-12 - "Mosaic", since 1913 - "Intimate Foundry". After the revolution, in 1926, the building of the theater was transferred to the Mobile Theater under the leadership of P. P. Gaideburov and N. F. Skarskaya, in 1928 – to TRAM (Theater of Working Youth). In 1932-37 the LOSPS theatre worked here. Almost all of them existed mainly due to the enthusiasm of amateurs. The exception is TRUM, in whose creative life the young Leningrad composer D. Shostakovich actively participated. Strictly speaking, in the 20s and 30s, the building on Liteiny, 51 was a temporary haven for various theater groups. The situation changed radically only at the end of the war. In 1944, a “concert-performance” based on the play “The Seagull” opened a theater-studio under the leadership of A. Wiener, which later became the Regional Drama and Comedy Theater. In the late 60s, when the theater was headed by director J. Hamarmer, directors debuted here: E. Padve, L. Dodin, K. Ginkas, G. Janovskaya. In 1991, from the play of G. Trostyanetsky “The Miser” Moliere on St. Petersburg posters appeared a new name – “Theater on Litein”. Today, the Theatre on Litein is considered one of the most interesting St. Petersburg theaters. With the arrival of the new artistic director A. Hetman, the theater changed its artistic policy. Rejection of the institute of chief director led to the active involvement in the theater not only bright representatives of St. Petersburg directing, but also young, promising directors - since 2002, the "Workshop Theater on Litein" has been working in the theater. In the repertoire of the theater performances of leading directors of St. Petersburg A. Galibin, Y. Butusov, G. Kozlov, G. Dityatkovsky, A. Praudin, V. Pazi. The theater was awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation ("Forest" production - G. Kozlov, 2000), the Golden Mask Prize (1998, 2001, 2003), the Golden Sofit Prize (1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006).