Mayakovsky Theater () is a theater in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, founded in 1920, first as ''Terevsat'' (Theater of Revolutionary Satire, 1920-1922), then ''Revolution Theater'' (1922-1943) and ''Drama Theater'' (1944-1953). In 1954 it was renamed after

Vladimir Mayakovsky Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky ( – 14 April 1930) was a Russian poet, playwright, artist, and actor. During his early, Russian Revolution, pre-Revolution period leading into 1917, Mayakovsky became renowned as a prominent figure of the Ru ...

History

The theatre ''At Nikitsky'' (that's how it was known for a while) was built in 1886 by Konstantin Tersky specifically as a venue for famous foreign artists visiting Moscow. Among those who performed there in the late 19th century were

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including by Alexandre Dumas fils, ...

Eleonora Duse Eleonora Giulia Amalia Duse ( , ; 3 October 185821 April 1924), often known simply as Duse, was an Italian actress, rated by many as the greatest of her time. She performed in many countries, notably in the plays of Gabriele D'Annunzio and Henr ...

Ernst von Possart Ernst von Possart (11 May 18418 April 1921) was a German actor and theatre director. Possart was born in Berlin and was early an actor in Breslau, Bern, and Hamburg. Connected with the Munich Court Theatre after 1864, he became the leading dire ...

, Jean Mounet-Sully, Coquelin Sr. and Coquelin Jr. At the turn of the 20th century the theater was known as ''Internationale''. Since 1920 the newly founded ''Theater of Revolutionary Satire'' (Теревсат) was based in the building. In 1922 it was reorganized and renamed into ''Revolution Theater'' (Театр революции) with

Vsevolod Meyerhold Vsevolod Emilyevich Meyerhold (; born ; 2 February 1940) was a Russian and Soviet theatre director, actor and theatrical producer. His provocative experiments dealing with physical being and symbolism in an unconventional theatre setting m ...

at the helm. In 1931-1942 Alexei Popov (1892-1961) was the Revolution Theater director; among the better known productions of this period were "Poem of an Axe", "My Friend", "Romeo and Juliet", "Death of a Squadron". His successor Nikolay Okhlopkov (1943-1967) left a lasting imprint on the theatre's style of performance. His major productions included "The Young Guard", "Mother", "Zykovs", "The Storm", "Hamlet, "The Bug", "Aristocrats", and "The Irkutsk Story". During Okhlopkov's tenure the name was changed twice: first into ''Drama Theater'' (1944), then into ''

Mayakovsky Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky ( – 14 April 1930) was a Russian poet, playwright, artist, and actor. During his early, pre-Revolution period leading into 1917, Mayakovsky became renowned as a prominent figure of the Russian Futurist mov ...

Theater'' (1954). In 1968 Andrey Goncharov became the director, his rule lasting for more than thirty years, up until his death in 2001. This period's highlights were "Talents And Admirers", "Vanyushin’s Children", "The Defeat", "The Bankrupt", "A Streetcar Named Desire", "A Man from Lamanchi", "Talks With Socrates", "Seagull", "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk", "The Life of Klim Samgin", "Fruits of Enlightenment". In 2002 the theatre's director became Sergei Artsibashev (who for ten years has led the Pokrovka Theatre). His first two productions,

Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works " The Nose", " Viy", "The Overcoat", and " Nevsky Prosp ...

’s "Marriage" and "Karamazovs" after

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian literature, Russian and world literature, and many of his works are consider ...

(in V.Malyuagin’s version) proved to be a triumph. In the 2005 premier of "Dead Souls" (representing for the first times both parts of Gogol's classic) Artsybashev played Chichikov.

Troupe

Best known actors of the past

* Maria Babanova (1900-1983) *

Zinaida Reich Zinaida Nikolayevna Reich (the last name also spelled Raikh or Raih; ; – 15 July 1939) was a Russian actress and one of the main stars of the Meyerhold Theatre until it was closed under Joseph Stalin. Reich married poet Sergey Yesenin and h ...

(1894-1939) *

Mark Bernes Mark Naumovich Bernes () (born Menakhem-Man Neukh-Shmuylov Neyman, ; ,This date: – is a mistake found in the ''Great Soviet Encyclopaedia''. True date: – was engraved on the Bernes's gravestone at Novodevichy Cemetery (Moscow), and also ...

(1911-1969) * Zoya Fyodorova (1907-1981) *

Sergey Martinson Sergey Aleksandrovich Martinson (; – 2 September 1984) was a Soviet and Russian stage, film and voice actor. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1964). Biography He was born in Saint Petersburg in the family of Swedish and Russian descent. His p ...

(1899-1984) *

Faina Ranevskaya Faina Georgiyevna Ranevskaya (, born Faina Girschevna Feldman, — 19 July 1984) was a Soviet actress. She is recognized as one of the greatest Soviet actresses in both tragedy and comedy. She was also famous for her aphorisms. She acted in play ...

(1896-1984) * Rostislav Plyatt (1908-1989) * Nikolay Okhlopkov (1900-1967) * Vladimir Belokurov (1904-1973) * Yevgeny Samoylov (1912-2006) * Vladimir Samoilov (1924-1999) *

Alexander Demyanenko Aleksandr Sergeyevich Demyanenko (; May 30, 1937 – August 22, 1999) was a Soviet and Russian actor. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1991). He is best known for playing the character Shurik in Leonid Gaidai's movies. Life and career Early life Al ...

(1937-1999) * Andrei Boltnev (1946-1995) * Natalya Gundareva (1948-2005) * Alexander Lazarev (1938-2011) * Anatoli Romashin (1931-2000) *

Pavel Morozenko Pavel Semyonovich Morozenko (; ; ''Pavlo Semenovych Morozenko''; 5 July 1939, in Snizhne, Ukrainian SSR – 14 July 1991, in Rostov Region, RSFSR) was a Soviet theatre and film actor, Merited artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1973). Biography Pa ...

(1939-1991) * Nina Ter-Osipyan (1925-2002) * Aleksandr Fatyushin (1951-2003)

Present

People's Artists of Russia

* Yevgenya Simonova * Svetlana Nemolyayeva * Igor Kashintsev * Igor Kostolevsky

Meritorious Artists of Russia

* Galina Belyayeva

References

External links

* http://www.mayakovsky.ru/ {{authority control Theatres in Moscow Theatre companies in Russia 1920 establishments in Russia