The Mikhail Chekhov Riga Russian Theatre (, ), colloquially referred to as the Russian Theatre (, ) or the RRT, is a

Russian-language Russian is an East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is the native language of the Russians. It was the ''de facto'' and ''de j ...

theatre in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, Latvia. It is located on 16 Kaļķu iela, Riga. The Mikhail Chekhov Riga Russian Theatre (known before 2006 as Riga Russian Drama Theatre) was founded in 1883, making it the oldest Russian-language drama theatre outside

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 ...

. The original troupe consisted of sixteen actors. The theatre grew during the 19th century and had something of a golden age during the leadership of K.N. Nezlobin, prior to the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

. The theatre continued to operate after Latvia became an independent country following the

Latvian War of Independence The Latvian War of Independence (), sometimes called Latvia's freedom battles () or the Latvian War of Liberation (), was a series of military conflicts in Latvia between 5 December 1918, after the newly proclaimed Republic of Latvia was invade ...

(1918–20). During the subsequent Soviet occupation of Latvia, the theatre continued to operate, but had to adapt to the political censorship of the day. It did not put on any performances during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Following the dissolution of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and the re-establishment of Latvian independence, the theatre can once more offer a mix of classical plays and new, innovative plays. In 2006, it was named after

Michael Chekhov Mikhail Aleksandrovich Chekhov (; 16 August 1891 – 30 September 1955), known as Michael Chekhov, was a Russian-American actor, Theatre director, director, author, and theatre practitioner. He was a nephew of the playwright Anton Chekhov an ...

, who spent two years in Riga (1932–1934) and influenced the Latvian theatre and performing arts. Since the 8 January 2018, the theatre has been led by Dana Bjorka, general manager and member of the board.

References

External links

Official website
{{Coord, 56, 56, 56.23, N, 24, 06, 34.77, E, type:landmark_region:LV, display=title Theatres in Riga