Theater - Crimean Academic Russian Drama named after M. Gorky (Simferopol)

The Crimean Academic Russian Drama Theatre named after M. Gorky is known far beyond Ukraine. It is not only the oldest theater on its territory, founded in 1821, it is a theater with a unique history and an amazing present. It was started by the Moscow merchant Volkov, a passionate theater man who lived here for some time on the advice of doctors and adapted a stone barn at the House of the Noble Assembly for performances. Here you could watch the performances of numerous touring "companies", "companies of actors", as well as the local amateur troupe. This first building with a length of 107 yards and a capacity of 400 spectators lasted more than 80 years. Already in the middle of the last century, by the efforts of the director of the local gymnasium A. Samoilov, the brother of the famous actor, it was reconstructed, and a correspondent from Simferopol proudly wrote in the capital magazine: In our city there is a temple of Melpomen. You can’t say that he was very good, but you can’t say that he was completely bad. Outside it is not plastered, inside it is decorated mediocrely and contains one tier of lodges, a stall, an orchestra and a gallery. On this stage in September 1846, the great M. Shchepkin shocked the Simferopol public with his art, which, as the newspaper Tauride Provincial Vedomosti wrote in issue 39 for 1846, "came into a frenzied delight at every word, every verse sung by Shchepkin." And outstanding dramatic actors M. Savina, V. Komissarzhevskaya, P. Orlenev, M. Zankovetskaya, the Adelheim brothers, the tragic Ira Aldridge performed here in their best roles. The new, beautiful building of the theater with elegant, expressive architecture in the late modern style with elements of neoclassicism was built according to the project of academician A. Beketov. Its opening took place on April 11, 1911 with the opera "Life for the Tsar". During the difficult years of the Civil War, the theater united many talented actors, directors, artists. The famous Russian actor and entrepreneur V. Yermolov-Borozdin, director P. Rudin, artist S. Zhivov and their troupe "Actor's Theatre" opened the season on September 28, 1919 with the play "Inspector" by N. Gogol in the same building "Theater of the Tauride Nobility". Brilliantly played here outstanding Russian actors P. Wolf, G. Subbotin, M. Yachmenev and others. At this time, the creative path of F. Ranevskaya began here with the roles of Masha in the Living Corpse and Charlotte in the Cherry Orchard, M. Voloshin entered the art council of the theater, the basics of drama were comprehended by K. Trenev, who was friends with the theater. Since November 1920, the theater was briefly called the 1st Soviet and, in addition to Russian and foreign classics, the best plays of Soviet playwrights were included in the repertoire, such as B. Lavrenev’s Rift, V. Kirshon’s Bread, and others. Directors P. Poleva, R. Ungern, B. Bertels - pupils of the St. Petersburg school - led the theater to significant creative successes and in the mid-20s the central press notes that "Crimean State Drama Theater is a valuable artistic core". The outstanding composer I.Dunayevsky directed the musical part of the theater in the season of 1925-26, wrote here the music for the performances “Princess Turandot”, “The Sunken Bell”, etc., leaving a bright mark and an unusual demand of the theater for the musical design of performances in subsequent years. The theater opened the way to great art for many young talents. Three years (1928-1931) shone on this stage M. Tsarev, in the prewar years - M. Nazvanov, V. Kenigson, M. Kulikovsky, who later became people's artists. And the outstanding Russian actress A. Peregonets, playing here, was not inferior to the capital’s celebrities, as critics and viewers believed. In 1932, the theater was named after M. Gorky, and almost all of his plays were staged on this stage in different years, and the play "The Old Man" (director and main actor P. Gaideburov) was awarded the State Prize of the USSR for 1951. The Crimean Theatre is widely known because it is the only creative team that resisted the Nazis during the Great Patriotic War, creating an underground patriotic group in the occupied city. All members of the group, headed by the artist N. Baryshev, were shot three days before the liberation of Simferopol, but it was thanks to them that the building, thousands of costumes, dozens of boys and girls who studied in the studio at the theater, and the population had reliable information about the events at the fronts, partisans - information about the location of important military facilities. These tragic events formed the basis of the play "They were actors" (director A. Novikov), awarded the State Prize of the USSR and the Gold Medal named after A. Popov The new production of this performance in 2000 was marked by the Certificate of Honor of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Since 1972, the theater is headed by A. G. Novikov - a student of N. Okhlopkov, People's Artist of Ukraine, laureate of State Prizes of the USSR and the ARC, corresponding member of the Academy of Arts of Ukraine, honorary citizen of Crimea and Simferopol. Within a few years, under his leadership, the theater reached such a level of professional skill and artistic culture that in 1979 it received a high title - academic. All subsequent years, the theater is in constant search of its style, having a clear concept of development. Collaborating with famous artists, composers, getting the right to stage new plays of the best playwrights of the country, organizing theoretical and scientific-practical conferences, thoughtfully and purposefully forming the troupe, the theater found its face and its audience. Successful tours in Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, Germany and many other cities have strengthened the importance and fame of the theater. The repertoire of the theater is extensive and diverse. Premieres of recent years - "Cunning and Love" by F. Schiller, "Master and Margarita" by M. Bulgakov, "Stupid" by Lope de Vega, "Memorial prayer" by G. Gorin and others. For many years, A. Ostrovsky’s Profitable Place, A. Tolstoy’s Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, V. Pikul and G. Bodykin’s Favorite have been successfully going. Performances "Richard III" by V. Shakespeare, "As it was done in Odessa" by I. Babel, "Inspector" by N. Gogol were awarded State Prizes of the ARC, and leading actors, artists, choreographers - honorary titles. Currently, the troupe of the theater has 69 people, including 8 people's artists of Ukraine, 22 - honored artists, 3 - honored artists, among them gifted, beloved by the audience N. Malygin, V. Navrotsky, S. Kucherenko, L. Boyko, O. Melenevsky, T. Pavlova and others. Theatre lives with a perspective on the future. This is the only theater in Ukraine, which created the State Studio School on the rights of a higher educational institution. The performances are held on seven stages (main, new, chamber, small, branch, amphitheater, stage in the courtyard), the total capacity of all halls is 1776 seats. The technical equipment of the scenes that meet the latest requirements, their diversity, excellent acoustics - all this, together with interesting directorial decisions and talented actors, allows you to create performances that are bright, memorable, as well as invite such famous theaters as Alexandrinsky, Mossovet, etc. to tour. Everyone who attends performances or tours of the theater is surprised by the scale of its premises and its activities. Now it is a huge theater complex with an area of 12.5 thousand square meters, which is not equal in the country and in Europe. The main building was restored, according to the plan of the artistic director A.G. Novikov and the Moscow architect L.M. Volkova, its partial reconstruction was carried out, a new building was built with spacious workshops, comfortable dressing rooms, office rooms. Tastefully decorated foyers, cozy resting areas, perfect cleanliness, friendly staff - all this is also an integral part of the aesthetics and ethics of the theater. Annually 600-700 performances are given, and as a result of high creative level, many years of educational work on introducing to theatrical art at the University of Friends of the Theatre, in the auditoriums every evening - a sold-out house. In September 2000, the Crimean Academic Russian Drama Theatre named after M. Gorky opens the anniversary 180th season. We invite you to visit our performances and get acquainted with the theater complex. The tenth anniversary of the Amphitheater Leading actors of the theater: I. Anosov, A. Bondarenko, V. Navrotsky, N. Malygin, V. Konratev, V. Denshchikov.