In fact, these three milestones mark the most significant periods in the life of the theater born of the revolution. Since 1920 it has occupied the building of the former Suvorinsky Theater on Fontanka. Before the revolution, the St. Petersburg Maly Theater was located here, where at the turn of the century the troupe of the Literary and Artistic Society worked. Since the main shareholder, unofficial artistic director, and also its ideologist was the publisher of the newspaper “Novoe Vremya” A.S. Suvorin, St. Petersburg residents called the theater Suvorinsky. From time to time, the life of the theater, sparse in artistic events, was illuminated by creative discoveries. So, for the first premiere of the theater it was staged by E. Karpov Power of darkness L.N. Tolstoy, with P. Strepetova in the role of Matryona. Performances with the participation of P. Orlenev, an actor who created a new role of “neurasthenic”, became an equally major phenomenon. M. Chekhov studied at the theater school, was accepted after training at the Suvorin Theater and successfully worked there before entering the Moscow Art Theater in 1912. After the death of K.Yu. Lavrov in 2007, he was appointed Artistic Director of the Bolshoi Drama Theater. G.A. Tovstonogov was appointed T.N. Chkheidze.

THEATER BORN OF A REVOLUTION

Actually, the real history of the BDT begins after the October Revolution. The new theater opened on February 15, 1919 with a performance Don Carlos F. Schiller in the Great Hall of the Conservatory. The first theater of Soviet dramatic art was conceived as a theater of heroic repertoire, large-scale images, “great tears and great laughter” (Blok). Born of a heroic era, he was supposed to convey its special greatness. It was to be a theater of "heroic tragedy, romantic drama and high comedy." The main ideological inspirer of the new theater was M. Gorky. In the early years, mainly classical plays were staged, in which tyrant-fighting, freedom-loving motives were emphasized. Major actors N.F. Monakhov, V.V. Maksimov joined the troupe, Yu.M. Yuryev, the main romantic premiere of the Alexandrinsky stage, moved from the Petrograd State Drama Theater (Akdram) for several years. The main director was A.M. Lavrentiev, who staged the following productions: Don Carlos (1919), Othello And King Lear W. Shakespeare (1920). Performances were also staged by N.V. Petrov ( twelfth Night Shakespeare, 1921; Ruy Blaz V.Hugo, 1921), B.M.Sushkevich ( Robbers Schiller, 1919), A.M. Benois ( Servant of two masters C. Goldoni and A reluctant doctor Moliere, 1921), R.V. Boleslavsky ( Tattered Cloak S. Benelli, 1919). Artists A.N. Benois, M.V. Dobuzhinsky, V.A. Shchuko and composers B.V. Asafiev, Yu.A. Shaporin, in close contact with directors, sought to adhere to the traditions of stage romanticism. In the early 1920s, dramas by German expressionists appeared in the repertoire of the Bolshoi Drama Theater, which were embodied by K.P. Khokhlov in an urban spirit, in a constructivist design - Gas G. Kaiser (1922, artist Yu.P. Annenkov), Virgin forest E. Toller (1924, artist N.P. Akimov). Aesthetically related to these productions was the play Riot of machines A.N. Tolstoy (adaptation of the play by K. Capek R.U.R.., 1924, artist Annenkov).

Of great importance for the fate of the theater was the recruitment of poet A.A. Blok to the position of chairman of the BDT Directory.

But along with the heroic-romantic productions of Schiller, Shakespeare, as well as experimental works, the theater focused on box-office performances and often staged “lightweight” historical melodramas. One of them - The Empress's Conspiracy A.M. Tolstoy and P.E. Shchegolev (1925, director Lavrentyev, artist Shchuko) - enjoyed great success.

THE THEATER IS CLOSING TO MODERNITY

The most serious performances of that period are associated with the work of K.K. Tverskoy, who usually worked with the artist M.Z. Levin; Among them, productions of plays by modern authors became important - Mutiny(1925) and Fault B.A. Lavreneva (1927), Man with a briefcase A.M.Fayko (1928), City of winds V.M. Kirshon (1929), My friend N.F. Pogodina (1932). From the mid-1920s, Soviet plays began to define the repertoire of the Bolshoi Drama Theater. Following the times, the theater for the first time tried to bring Romance closer to reality, to combine heroic pathos with a specific living environment. The theater troupe formed strong acting personalities: O.G. Kaziko, V.T. Kibardina, A.I. Larikov, V.P. Politseymako, K.V. Skorobogatov, V.Ya. Sofronov.

In the year of production Rift, K.S. Stanislavsky, during the Leningrad tour of the Moscow Art Theater, wrote on a portrait donated to the BDT: “Your theater is one of those few that know that the revolution in art is not only in external form, but in the inner essence...”.

For many actors, participation in Gorky’s plays was a turning point. Gorky's plays were a significant success Egor Bulychev and others(1932, directed by K.K. Tverskoy and V.V. Lyutse) and Dostigaev and other(1933, directed by Lutze). It was no coincidence that the name of Gorky was given to the theater. Deviation from Gorky's laws of dramaturgy, which always presupposed clarity of thought, clarity of ideological position, brightness of characters, irreconcilable conflict and special theatricality, almost every time led the theater to failure.

G.A. TOVSTONOGOV COMES TO THE THEATER

After Tverskoy left, a difficult time began in the theater. Artistic directors changed frequently: 1934 – V.F. Fedorov, 1936–1937 – A.D. Dikiy, 1939–1940 – B.A. Babochkin, 1940–1944 – L.S. Rudnik. In an atmosphere of aesthetic unpretentiousness and multidirectional quests, only a few performances became noteworthy events in stage art: Bourgeois Gorky (1937, director Dikiy); Summer residents Gorky (1939) and Tsar Potap A.A. Kopkova (1940 - both directed by Babochkin); King Lear Shakespeare (1941, director G.M. Kozintsev). In the first years of the Great Patriotic War, the theater worked in Kirov, in 1943 it returned to Leningrad and continued to work under the blockade, serving the troops of the Leningrad Front and hospitals.

The creative crisis of the BTC, which emerged in the mid-1930s, worsened in the post-war years. Artistic directors stayed in the theater only for a short time: 1946–1950 – N.S. Rashevskaya, 1951–1952 – I.S. Efremov, 1952–1954 – O.G. Kaziko, 1954–1955 – K.P. Khokhlov. The introduction into the repertoire of numerous thematically relevant, but artisanal, and sometimes outright false plays led to a decrease in the artistic level of performances, acting skills, and the loss of the audience. In 1956, G.A. Tovstonogov, who had 25 years of fruitful experience in various theaters (Tbilisi, Moscow, Leningrad), became the main director of the theater. His arrival coincided with the “thaw” - the revival of the country’s public life after the 20th Congress of the CPSU. In a short time, Tovstonogov brought the theater out of crisis, turning the disorganized troupe into a cohesive team capable of successfully solving the most complex creative problems. Decisive in the theatrical policy of the chief director was the renewal of the troupe and the choice of repertoire. To regain the viewer’s trust, Tovstonogov begins with unassuming, but lively and recognizable plays ( Sixth floor A. Zheri, When does acacia bloom? N. Vinnikova). Talented youth are actively involved in these productions, who soon became the basis of the renewed team (K. Lavrov, L. Makarova, T. Doronina, Z. Sharko). They brought to the stage a living breath of truth, open lyrical hearts, and genuinely sincere voices of our time. Liberated by the spiritual atmosphere of their time, the young actors, together with the director, affirmed a new hero - outwardly not at all heroic, but close to everyone in the audience, glowing with inner beauty and talent for humanity. Productions of works of modern drama – Five evenings(1959, in the center of which is an unusually subtle duet of E. Kopelyan and Z. Charko), My older sister(1961 with the brilliant T. Doronina and E. Lebedev) A.M. Volodin, and Irkutsk history A.N. Arbuzov (1960) - went in parallel with careful work on Russian classics, in which the director heard, first of all, the nerve of today. Performances Idiot according to F.M. Dostoevsky (1957 and 1966), Barbarians Gorky (1959), Woe from mind A.S. Griboyedova (1962), Three sisters A.P. Chekhov (1965), Bourgeois Gorky (1966, USSR State Prize, 1970) became major events in the spiritual life of society and determined the leading position of the BDT in the domestic performing arts. Of particular interest was the form of “play-novel” that has developed in the BDT, which is characterized by thoroughness and subtlety of psychological analysis of the characters’ behavior, enlarged images, close attention to the inner life of all characters.

Barbarians A.M. Gorky turned out to be the first performance that transformed the recently diverse BDT troupe into a powerful and rich ensemble, where the director prepared and ensured great acting victories for P. Luspekayev - Cherkun, V. Strzhelchik-Tsyganov, V. Polizeimako-Redozubov, O. Kaziko-Bogaevskaya, Z. Sharko-Katya, T. Doronina - Nadezhda, E. Lebedev-Monakhov, her husband.

An event in the theatrical life of the country was the production Idiot with I. Smoktunovsky in the title role. A performance in which the director’s innovative style was especially clearly manifested: elusive in its diversity on the one hand, and external discreetness on the other. The director creates through the actor, together with the actor, and reveals their individuality, often unexpectedly for them (O. Basilashvili, V. Strzhelchik, O. Borisov).

No idea exists for Tovstonogov outside the artist. But the director does not “die in the actor.” Critic K. Rudnitsky wrote: “... the director comes to life in the actors, the art of each of the artists reveals one of the many facets of the art of the director himself...”. Therefore, the main work in the theater is working with the author and artist. The main result of the work is the creation of an ensemble of the highest culture, which can solve the most complex creative problems and achieve stylistic integrity in any performance.

Contact with the audience in BDT performances is always intense. But there were performances where this condition became paramount. This is how the play was staged Woe from mind(1964) with the tragic and at the same time eccentric Chatsky-S. Yursky, who was looking for comrades in the hall, addressing the audience with lively youthful spontaneity, hoping for understanding.

Each performance by Tovstonogov has its own way of communicating with the audience, be it Horse history(1975) with E. Lebedev in the role of Kholstomer, Chekhov, Gorky or Gogol ( Auditor, 1972), where the director poses the toughest questions to his characters, and therefore to the audience. At the same time, the director’s novelty of reading arises from the depth of the text he has read, those layers of it that have not yet been seen and studied.

The revolutionary themes of the performances were read and understood in a new way Death of the squadron A. Korneychuk, Optimistic tragedy V. Vishnevsky, staged repeatedly, at different times, as well as Reading again M. Shatrova (1980), where a simple person who finds himself in the face of History is closely examined, without false pathos.

The characteristic slow development of Tovstonogov’s “performance-novels” ( Barbarians And Bourgeois; Virgin soil upturned according to M.A. Sholokhov, 1964, etc.) gradually brought actors and spectators to stormy, “explosive” climax moments.

In the 1970s, the director continued his theatrical searches, staging an epic novel in the field of great prose Quiet Don with O. Borisov in the role of Grigory - the central figure of the performance, eclipsing all other persons who have lost their scale in this system. The epic performance viewed Gregory as a tragic hero who had no personal guilt before the fate of History. The director’s “novel” productions have always been accompanied by such a quality as polyphony.

But BDT was no stranger to cheerful, mischievous comedy. Viewers of the 1970s will long remember the festive, light-winged Hanuma A. Tsagareli (1972), staged with special lyricism, grace and brilliant acting by L. Makarova, V. Strzhelchik, N. Trofimov. The experience of a special “Vakhtangov” reading, with its open play at the theater, was successfully mastered by the director in Wolves and sheep A.N. Ostrovsky (1980), the opera-farce of A.N. Kolker sounded sharply tragicomic grotesque Death of Tarelkin according to A.V. Sukhovo-Kobylin (1982), who revealed the great potential of BDT actors in the field of open theatricality (acting works by E. Lebedev, V. Kovel, S. Kryuchkova, etc.). The comedic skills of the artists were honed using the material of a modern play ( Energetic people according to V. Shukshin, 1974), and in dramatization Pickwick Club according to Charles Dickens, 1978).

In addition to the already mentioned artists, E.A. Popova, M.A. Prizvan-Sokolova, O.V. Volkova, L.I. Malevannaya, Yu.A. Demich, A.Yu. Tolubeev, S.N. worked fruitfully in the troupe .Kryuchkova. In 1983, the BDT troupe was replenished with another unique stage master - A.B. Freindlich, who played and continues to play the most diverse roles - from three women of opposite make-up in comedy This ardent lover(N. Simon, 1983) to the tragic images of Lady Macbeth and Nastya ( At the bottom A.M. Gorky, 1987), etc.

THEATER NAMED AFTER G.A. TOVSTONOGOV

After the death of G.A. Tovstonogov in 1989, K.Yu. Lavrov became the artistic director of the BDT. In 1993, the theater was rightfully named after its former chief director, who became an entire theatrical era, not only for his theater, but also for his country.

A valuable contribution to the life of this theater was made by the productions of director T. Chkheidze, which largely coincided with Tovstonogov’s requirements for the performance. The depth and scale of T. Chkheidze’s directorial vision was embodied by him through a carefully selected ensemble of actors. His most interesting performances are: Deceit and love F. Schiller (1990), Macbeth U . Shakespeare, (1995), Antigone J. Anouya (1996), Boris Godunov A. Pushkin (1998).

In the modern BDT, many of G.A. Tovstonogov’s performances continue to be staged, which are not only preserved, but live a full life.

In 2007, after the death of K. Lavrov, Temur Chkheidze, who had worked with the BDT since 1991, and in 2004 agreed to become the chief director, was appointed artistic director. In February 2013, Chkheidze resigned and resigned as artistic director.

Ekaterina Yudina

Dear viewers, we draw your attention to:
The section “About the Theater” on the BDT website is currently being updated and supplemented.

History of the Bolshoi Drama Theater

The Bolshoi Drama Theater opened on February 15, 1919 with F. Schiller's tragedy "Don Carlos", beginning its performances in the Opera Studio of the Conservatory.

In 1964 it was awarded the title of Academic, in 1970 the Small Stage was opened, since 1992 it has been named after G.A. Tovstonogov.

In the fall of 1918, Commissioner for Theater Affairs M.F. Andreeva signed a decree on the creation of a Special Drama Troupe in Petrograd - this was the original name of the theater, famous today all over the world under the abbreviation BDT. Its formation was entrusted to the famous actor N.F. Monakhov, and the origins were two theater groups: the Tragedy Theater organized in 1918 under the direction of

Yu.M. Yuryev and the Art Drama Theater, which was headed by A.N. Lavrentiev.

A.A. was appointed to the post of Chairman of the Directory of the Bolshoi Drama Theater. Blok, who essentially became the first artistic director of the BDT. The main ideological inspirer of the new theater was M. Gorky. He wrote at the time: “The audience needs to be shown the man he himself - and all of us - have long dreamed of, a heroic man, chivalrously selfless, passionately in love with his idea... a man of honest deeds, of great feat...” Nominated Maxim Gorky’s slogan “Heroic theater for the heroic people!” was embodied in the repertoire of the BDT.

The heroes of W. Shakespeare, F. Schiller, V. Hugo appeared on the stage of the BDT. They affirmed the ideas of nobility, contrasting honor and dignity with the chaos and cruelty of the surrounding world. In the first years of the BDT's life, artists played a significant role in determining its artistic appearance. Each of them: and those who left the World of Art association A.N. Benoit and M.V. Dobuzhinsky, and monumental architect V.A. The Shchukos did it in their own way. But it was they who formed the solemn, truly magnificent style of the early BDT.

The advent of a new era coincided with difficult and sometimes tragic changes within the theater itself. In 1921, M.F. left Russia for several years. Andreev and M. Gorky, in the same year A.A. passed away. Blok, returned to the Academic Drama Theater Yu.M. Yuryev, A.N. left. Benois, left the BDT and became the main director A.N. Lavrentiev. New directors came to the theater: N.V. Petrov, K.P. Khokhlov, P.K. Weisbrem, K.K. Tverskoy; they brought new artists with them - Yu.P. Annenkova, M.Z. Levina, N.P. Akimova, V.M. Khodasevich, V.V. Dmitrieva. Having accepted from A.A. Blok symbolic relay race, in 1923 the literary part was headed by A.I. Piotrovsky.

In the new search for theater, the directing activity of the student V.E. played a major role. Meyerhold K.K. Tverskoy (1929-1934). In the mid-twenties, the BDT's repertoire was determined primarily by plays by modern playwrights such as B.A. Lavrenev, A. Fayko, Yu.K. Olesha, N.N. Nikitin, N.A. Zarkhi, V.M. Kirshon, N.F. Pogodin. The troupe is also being renewed,

A.I. come to BDT Larikov, V.P. Polizeimako, N.P. Korn, L.A. Krovitsky; EAT. Granovskaya, O.G. Casico, V.T. Kibardina, E.V. Alexandrovskaya, A.B. Nikritina.

Since the founding of the theater, directors have worked at the BDT: 1919-1921 and 1923-1929 - A.N. Lavrentiev; 1921-1922 - N.V. Petrov; 1929-1934 - K.K. Tverskoy; 1934-1936 - V.F. Fedorov; 1936-1937 - A.D. Wild; 1938-1940 - B.A. Babochkin; 1940-1946 -
L.S. Mine; 1946-1949 - N.S. Rashevskaya; 1950-1952 - I.S. Efremov; 1922-1923 and 1954-1955 - K.L. Khokhlov.

Thirty paces long. Twenty deep. Up - to the height of the curtain. The stage space is not that big. This space could accommodate a modern apartment - it would not be so unnaturally spacious. You can place a garden here. Perhaps a corner of the garden, no more. Here you can create a world. A world of high human passions opposing baseness, a world of deeds and a world of doubts, a world of discoveries and a high system of feelings that lead the audience.

From the book “Mirror of the Stage”

At the beginning of 1956, the Bolshoi Drama Theater was preparing to celebrate its thirty-seventh birthday.

On the very eve of the holiday, the troupe was introduced to a new, eleventh, chief director.

Thus began an era in the BDT, whose name is Georgy Aleksandrovich Tovstonogov.

G.A. Tovstonogov created a theater that for decades has invariably remained the leader of the domestic theatrical process. The performances he created: “The Fox and the Grapes” by G. Figueiredo, “The Idiot” by F.M. Dostoevsky, “Five Evenings” by A. Volodin, “Barbarians” by M. Gorky, “Woe from Wit” by A.S. Griboyedov, “Philistines” by M. Gorky, “The Inspector General” by N.V. Gogol, “Three Sisters” by A.P. Chekhov, “Last Summer in Chulimsk” by A. Vampilov, “Energetic People” by V. Shukshin, “Three Bags of Weedy Wheat” by V. Tendryakov, “The History of a Horse” by L.N. Tolstoy, “Simplicity is enough for every wise man” by A. Ostrovsky, “At the Depth” by M. Gorky... became events

in the theatrical life not only of Leningrad, but also of the whole country, striking with the novelty of its interpretation and the originality of the director’s vision.

Bit by bit, personality to personality, G.A. Tovstonogov assembled an ensemble of unique acting individuals who made up the best drama troupe in the country. The roles played on the stage of the Bolshoi Drama Theater brought fame to I.M. Smoktunovsky, O.I. Borisov, revealed the bright talents of T.V. Doronina, E.A. Lebedeva, S.Yu. Yursky, E.Z. Kopelyan, P.B. Luspekeva, P.P. Pankova, E.A. Popova,

IN AND. Strzhelchika, Z.M. Charcot, V.P. Kovel, V.A. Medvedeva,L.V. Nevedomsky,M.V. Danilova, Yu.A. Demicha, I.Z. Zabludovsky, N.N. Trofimov, K.Yu. Lavrova, A.Yu. Tolubeeva, L.I. Painted.

A.B. is still playing in the BDT. Freindlikh, O.V. Basilashvili, V.M. Ivchenko, N.N. Usatova, E.K. Popova, G.P. Bogachev, G.A. Calm.

On May 23, 1989, returning from the theater, Georgy Aleksandrovich Tovstonogov died suddenly while driving his car.

In the days when the theater had not yet recovered from the shock, by secret vote of the team, People's Artist of the USSR, State Prize laureate K.Yu. Lavrov.

On April 27, 2007, the theater said goodbye to K.Yu. Lavrov. In June, by a unanimous decision of the troupe, the artistic director of the Bolshoi Drama Theater named after G.A. Tovstonogov, People's Artist of Russia and Georgia T.N. Chkheidze, who served in this post until March 2013.

Them. G. A. Tovstonogov will celebrate her centenary in 2019. Its current repertoire includes classical plays and works by contemporary authors. The theater is one of the most famous and popular in Russia.

About the theater

BDT Tovstonogov has existed since 1919. It was originally called the Special Drama Troupe. The first performances were shown in the hall of the Conservatory. After some time, the theater found its own building. The embankment of the Fontanka River became the location of the legendary BDT. The artistic direction of the new temple of art was entrusted to the famous poet A. A. Blok. The ideological inspirer was Maxim Gorky. The repertoire of that time included works by F. Schiller, W. Shakespeare, and V. Hugo. The BDT considered its main task to be the opposition of nobility, dignity and honor to the cruelty and chaos that reigned in the world.

The twenties of the 20th century became difficult for the new theater. First, M. Gorky left for another country, then A. Blok died. The artist A. Benois left the BDT. The main director A. Lavrentiev left the theater. New directors came to the troupe. But no one stayed long. This continued until 1956. The basis of the repertoire at that difficult time was the works of Soviet playwrights.

In 1956, the theater began a new life. This happened thanks to the arrival of G. A. Tovstonogov to the position of chief director and artistic director. He served in the BDT for thirty years. Georgy Alexandrovich created performances that became real events. His productions were distinguished by originality, freshness, novelty and his own view of the works. This man turned the theater, which was among the outsiders, into one of the leaders of the country. Georgy Alexandrovich invited such outstanding actors as T. Doronina, I. Smoktunovsky, V. Strzhelchik, S. Yursky, K. Lavrov, etc. to the troupe. This was the best team in the USSR. In 1964, the theater was awarded the honorary title "Academic". In 1970, another stage of the Bolshoi Drama Theater, the Small Stage, opened.

In May 1989, Georgy Alexandrovich was returning home from a rehearsal for a new play in his car. He had a heart attack. The great director died right behind the wheel. The death of a genius was a great loss for the theater. The troupe could not recover from the shock. Soon the artists chose a new artistic director. He became K. Yu. Lavrov. The actor tried to continue the traditions laid down by Georgy Alexandrovich. In 1992, the theater was named after G. A. Tovstonogov. Kirill Yuryevich Lavrov served as artistic director until 2007. Then he was replaced by T. Chkheidze. Since 2013, the artistic director of the BDT has been A. A. Moguchiy.

Repertoire

BDT Tovstonogov offers its viewers dramas, comedies, classical works and plays by modern authors.

In 2017, the following performances can be seen on its stage:

• "Storm".
• "Summer of One Year"
• "Alice".
• "The soldier and the devil."
• "The language of birds."
• "Governor".
• "Human".
• "The visible side of life."
• "The House of Bernarda Alba."
• "Tolstoy's War and Peace."
• "Mary Stuart" and others.

Troupe

The Tovstonogov Drama Theater has long been famous for its artists. The actors here are talented and professional. Many of them have titles and awards. The team consists of promising young people and famous celebrities who have extensive experience and are known to a wide audience for their numerous works in cinema.

Theater troupe:

• Maxim Bravtsov.
• Victor Knyazhev.
• Leonid Nevedomsky.
• Svetlana Kryuchkova.
• Elena Shvareva.
• Oleg Basilashvili.
• Nina Usatova.
• Sergey Stukalov.
• Alisa Freindlich.
• Georgy Shtil.
• Irute Vengalite and many other artists.

Directors

The BDT employs several stage directors.

Directing group:

• Lyudmila Shuvalova.
• Andrey Maksimov.
• Alexander Nikanorov.
• Polina Nevedomskaya.
• Alexander Artyomov.

L. Shuvalova and A. Maksimov have worked at the BDT longer than others.

Andrey Nikolaevich was born in 1955. At the age of 30 he graduated from LGITMiK. He began his career in the city of Kemerovo. Then there were Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Omsk, Vilnius. Since 1993, A. Maksimov has served in the Tovstonogov Drama Theater. Over the years of creative activity, he staged more than thirty performances.

L.P. Shuvalova graduated from the theater school in Nizhny Novgorod. She came to work at the BDT in 1951. Lyudmila Pavlovna began her creative career as an actress. After 20 years of artistic activity, she became an assistant director. And in 1980 - director. L.P. Shuvalova was awarded the Order of II and I degrees “For Services to the Fatherland” for her great contribution to theatrical art.

G. A. Tovstonogov

G. A. Tovstonogov was born in 1915. Since childhood, Georgy Alexandrovich loved the theater very much. But after graduating from school, at the insistence of his father, he entered the railway institute. After studying there for a short time, the young man realized that he had a different calling and left this university. In 1931, G. A. Tovstonogov began working in the Russian Youth Theater in Tbilisi as an actor. Two years later he entered the directing department at GITIS. In 1946 he moved to Moscow, and in 1949 - to St. Petersburg.

Since 1956, Georgy Alexandrovich has been the director of the BDT. Tovstonogov headed this theater at a time when it was on the verge of closure. The team was terrible. The artistic directors were constantly changing. Attendance is low and financial debt is high. Thanks to Georgy Alexandrovich, the BDT got back on its feet in no time. G. Tovstonogov headed the theater for thirty years - until his death. In addition, this brilliant director taught, was a professor, wrote two books, and worked on television and radio.

Buying tickets

BDT Tovstonogov, like many other theaters, offers two ways to purchase tickets. The first is at the box office, the second is via the Internet. On the official website of the theater in the "Poster" section, you need to select the performance you are interested in and a convenient date. Then you need to decide on the row and location; the diagram of the auditorium, which is presented in this section of the article, will help you with this.

Payment for the order is made using a bank card or electronic wallet. Purchased tickets are sent to the buyer's email. You will need to print them yourself and present them in paper form at the entrance to the hall. If you want to purchase tickets at one of the box offices, then remember their operating hours: from 10:00 to 21:00 - Main Stage, and from 10:00 to 19:00 - Small Stage. Break - from 15:00 to 16:00. Students of creative universities can purchase tickets at a discount one hour before the start of the performance and upon presentation of a document confirming the right to the discount.

In the fall of 1918, the Bolshoi Drama Theater was founded in Petrograd on the initiative of the writer Maxim Gorky, the poet Alexander Blok and the Moscow Art Theater actress Maria Andreeva. The repertoire policy of the theater was determined by its first artistic director, Alexander Blok: “The Bolshoi Drama Theater is, by design, a theater of high drama: high tragedy and high comedy.” The special aesthetics and style of the BDT were formed under the influence of the architect Vladimir Shchuko and artists from the World of Art association: Alexander Benois, Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Boris Kustodiev - the first set designers of the theater.

On February 15, 1919, the premiere took place: F. Schiller’s tragedy “Don Carlos” was staged by director Andrei Lavrentyev. Among the directors of the BDT in the following years: Meyerhold's student Konstantin Tverskoy, Nemirovich-Danchenko's student Nikolai Petrov, World of Art artist Alexander Benois, the famous Chapaev from the film of the same name - actor Boris Babochkin. From 1932 to 1992, the BDT bore the name of its founder, Maxim Gorky.

In 1956, Georgy Tovstonogov was appointed chief director and artistic director of the theater. Under him, the BDT became an author's director's theater, known throughout the world, and the best dramatic stage in the USSR. In the performances Tovstonogov was played by Tatyana Doronina and Sergei Yursky, Innokenty Smoktunovsky and Zinaida Sharko, Evgeny Lebedev and Valentina Kovel, Oleg Basilashvili and Svetlana Kryuchkova, Vladislav Strzhelchik, Pavel Luspekayev, Oleg Borisov, Nikolai Trofimov, Efim Kopelyan, Kirill Lavrov and many other wonderful actors . In those years the theater toured a lot.

In a situation of confrontation between two political systems, the “Iron Curtain” regime, the BDT was a cultural link between East and West. After Tovstonogov's death in 1989, People's Artist of the USSR Kirill Lavrov took over the artistic direction, followed by director Temur Chkheidze. Since 1992, the theater began to bear the name of Georgy Alexandrovich Tovstonogov.

In 2013, director Andrei Moguchiy, one of the leaders of the theater avant-garde, became the artistic director of the BDT. Under the leadership of Moguchy, the BDT regained recognition from the public and critics and became one of the main theatrical newsmakers in the country.

In December 2015, the theater was awarded by experts from the Russian Association of Theater Critics “For building a new artistic strategy for the Bolshoi Drama Theatre.” The creative credo of the BDT is an open dialogue on topics relevant to modern society.

Every performance, every project of the new BDT addresses the problems of a person of his time. The productions of the Bolshoi Drama Theater involve artists of all generations of the troupe - from very young actors of the trainee group to leading stage masters, such as People's Artist of the USSR Alisa Freindlikh, People's Artist of Russia and Ukraine Valery Ivchenko, People's Artists of Russia Svetlana Kryuchkova, Irute Vengalite, Marina Ignatova, Elena Popova, People's Artists of Russia Gennady Bogachev, Valery Degtyar, Honored Artists of Russia Anatoly Petrov, Vasily Reutov, Andrey Sharkov, Honored Artist of Russia Maria Lavrova and others. Every season, the BDT's performances become laureates of the country's main theater awards, including the national theater award "Golden Mask".

Since 2013, at the BDT named after G.A. Tovstonogov there is a large-scale educational program “The Age of Enlightenment”. These are lectures, concerts, exhibitions, round tables devoted to current creative issues, meetings with people who create modern theater, as well as excursions around the museum and behind the scenes of the theater, original programs dedicated to the history of the BDT. An important direction of the “Era of Enlightenment” is the “BDT Pedagogical Laboratory” - directors, actors, theater critics and teachers train teachers of secondary schools and kindergartens in St. Petersburg to introduce modern theatrical language and stage techniques into the school educational program.

In 2015, the BDT became the first Russian repertory drama theater to permanently include the inclusive play “The Language of Birds” in its playbill, created in collaboration with the Center for Creativity, Education and Social Habilitation for adults with autism “Anton Is Near”. Along with professional actors, people with autism spectrum disorder play in this performance.

At the Bolshoi Drama Theater named after G.A. Tovstonogov three scenes. The Main Stage (750 seats) and the Small Stage (120 seats) are located in a historical building at 65 Fontanka Embankment, erected in 1878 by the architect Ludwig Fontana commissioned by Count Anton Apraksin.

The second stage of the Bolshoi Drama Theater (300 seats) is located on the Old Theater Square, 13, in the building of the Kamennoostrovsky Theater, the oldest surviving wooden theater in Russia, built by the architect Smaragd Shustov by order of Emperor Nicholas I in 1827. Every season, these three venues host at least 5 premieres and more than 350 performances.

Cultural heritage of the Russian Federation, object No. 7802384000 object No. 7802384000

Russian State Academic Bolshoi Drama Theater named after G. A. Tovstonogov (Bolshoi Drama Theater, from 1932 - named after M. Gorky, from 1964 to 1992 - Leningrad Academic Bolshoi Drama Theater named after M. Gorky) - theater in St. Petersburg, founded in 1919, one of the first theaters created after the October Revolution. In 1992, it received the name of the famous director Georgy Tovstonogov, who headed the theater for thirty-three years.

Story

Theater organization

The theater was organized on the initiative of Maxim Gorky and the commissioner of theaters and entertainment of the Union of Communes of the Northern Region, the Moscow Art Theater actress of the “first call” Maria Andreeva. In August 1918, Commissioner M.F. Andreeva signed a decree on the creation in Petrograd of a “theater of tragedy, romantic drama and high comedy,” known today throughout the world under the abbreviation BDT.

Among the founders of the theater was one of the pillars of the “World of Art” - the artist who became a BDT and director, Alexander Benois. In September, actor Nikolai Monakhov was entrusted with organizing a “special drama troupe”; in October, the artistic council, headed by Gorky, decided on the directors, inviting N. I. Arbatov and Andrei Lavrentyev; Alexander Gauk and Yuri Shaporin were invited as heads of the musical part. At the same time, the leading actors of the theater were determined: in addition to Monakhov, the premier of the Alexandrinsky Theater Yuri Yuryev and the “star” of silent cinema, the actor of the Maly Theater Vladimir Maksimov.

The core of the troupe was made up of artists from the Art Drama Theater, created in 1918 by A. N. Lavrentiev, and the Theater of Tragedy, which was born in the same year under the direction of Yu. M. Yuryev. In December, the first meeting of the troupe took place, which included Vasily Sofronov; Rehearsals for two performances began at once. In January 1919, the board of the BDT was formed; Maria Andreeva became the chairman of the board, Andrei Lavrentyev was appointed chief director.

Poster for the play “Don Carlos”

The Bolshoi Drama Theater opened on February 15, 1919 in the Great Hall of the Conservatory with the play “Don Carlos” based on the play by Friedrich Schiller. This historical performance was staged by Andrei Lavrentyev, designed by Vladimir Shchuko, and the music was written by Boris Asafiev; the best actors of the troupe were employed in it: Monakhov (Philip), Maksimov (Don Carlos), Yuryev (Pose); the performance lasted exactly five hours, the Conservatory was not heated, it was bitterly cold, but every evening the hall was filled with spectators, and no one left.

In 1920, the BDT received at its disposal the building of the former Maly Theater (Suvorin Theater) on Fontanka, 65, where it is currently located.

Early years (1919-1934)

In April 1919, Alexander Blok became the chairman of the Directory (artistic council) of the Bolshoi Drama Theater, while Maxim Gorky remained the main ideologist.

According to the initiators, the theater was to become a citadel of the heroic repertoire, a theater of great social passions, excited revolutionary pathos, a theater of “great tears and great laughter” (A. Blok).

The theater's performances in the first years of its existence were fully consistent with the revolutionary program of its founders. At that time, Soviet drama had not yet developed and the best works of world classics were performed on the theater stage: tragedies by W. Shakespeare and F. Schiller, dramas by V. Hugo; at the same time, plays by D. Merezhkovsky and V. Bryusov were staged in the theater. Directors Nikolai Petrov and Boris Sushkevich worked in the new theater; Artists - representatives of the "World of Art" - worked closely with the theater: Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Vladimir Shchuko (before the BDT, they designed performances at the Yuryev Tragedy Theater and the Lavrentiev Art Drama Theater), Boris Kustodiev, Evgeny Lanceray. Artists largely determined the face of the theater in its early period; Nadezhda Komarovskaya, who performed the role of Elizabeth, recalled how Shchuko created the atmosphere in Don Carlos: “The scale of the scenery created the impression of a person’s helplessness, his inability to overturn these walls that were crushing with their weight. It seemed that the human cry could never be heard, it would be drowned in them.” And five years later, critic A. A. Gvozdev wrote: “To determine the place of the BDT in the circle of the latest theatrical trends means to indicate the role that the decorative artist played in this theater.” According to actress Nina Lejeune, at the Bolshoi Drama Theater in those years everything was genuine, not fake: furniture borrowed from rich houses, costumes... Even in 1925, playing Anna Vyrubova in the play “The Conspiracy of the Empress” by A. Tolstoy and P. Shchegolev, Lejeune wore an authentic Vyrubova dress.

Musical design also played an important role; Boris Asafiev, Yuri Shaporin (music director until 1928), Mikhail Kuzmin, Ivan Vyshnegradsky collaborated with the BDT.

In 1921, Gorky and Andreeva left Russia, Blok died, Yu. M. Yuryev returned to his native Alexandrinsky; M. Dobuzhinsky left; At the beginning of 1921, its main director, Andrei Lavrentyev, left the BDT.

New people came to the Bolshoi Drama Theater: in 1921-1922, the main director of the theater was Nikolai Petrov, his successor was Konstantin Khokhlov, who was passionate about expressionism, who replenished the theater’s repertoire with plays by G. Kaiser and E. Toller. “In the works of Georg Kaiser and Ernst Toller,” wrote A. Piotrovsky, “the theater found that abstraction and generalization of images, that journalistic temperament, which, of course, very unreasonably seemed to him an integral sign of “high drama,” a true antidote to the theater he despised Schiller, "everyday life".

At the end of 1923, A. Benois left the BDT, but new artists came - Nikolai Akimov, Yuri Annenkov, V. M. Khodasevich.

In 1923, Lavrentyev returned to the Bolshoi Drama Theater and remained chief director until 1929; The literary part of the theater was headed by Adrian Piotrovsky in the same 1923, largely thanks to him, plays by modern playwrights, both foreign and domestic, appeared on the theater's posters. The theater itself often opened the latter, including Boris Lavrenev, E. Zamyatin (as a playwright), A. Stein. The desire for a “large, abstract, generalized and monumental” performance during this period, according to Piotrovsky, determined the specificity of the BDT, both its success and its misconceptions.

Khokhlov worked next to Lavrentyev at the Bolshoi Drama Theater until 1925, and under him directors Pavel Weisbrem and Konstantin Tverskoy came to the theater. New actors also came to the BDT: Alexander Larikov, Valentina Kibardina, Olga Kaziko.

Konstantin Tverskoy

BDT named after Tovstonogov during the day

From 1929 to 1935, the main director of the theater was Konstantin Tverskoy, a student of Vsevolod Meyerhold. From the mid-20s, starting with the play “Mutiny” (based on B. Lavrenev’s play “Smoke”), staged by Lavrentyev in 1925, the theater gradually abandoned abstract romance; K. Tverskoy succeeded in doing this to the fullest extent. He gave preference to modern drama (until 1935, only one classical play was added to the theater’s repertoire - “A Profitable Place” by A. N. Ostrovsky, directed by V. V. Lyutse), the BDT staged plays by Yuri Olesha, Alexei Faiko, Nikolai Pogodin, Lev Slavin ; An important event in theatrical life was the play “The Rift” based on the play by B. Lavrenev. However, the last performance staged at the Bolshoi Drama Theater by Tverskoy was “Richard III” by W. Shakespeare.

In 1932, the Bolshoi Drama Theater was named after its actual founder, M. Gorky; under Tverskoy, plays by A. M. Gorky first appeared in the theater’s repertoire: “Egor Bulychov and Others” (1932) and “Dostigaev and Others” (1933).

During this period, talented artists worked at the Bolshoi Drama Theater: Moses Levin (chief artist), Nikolai Akimov and Vadim Ryndin; Tverskoy's last performance was designed by Alexander Tyshler. Young actors Vitaly Politsemako and Nikolai Korn made themselves known in Tverskoy's performances. Since 1930, Vladimir Lyutse, also a student of Meyerhold, worked as a stage director at the theater.

Selected repertoire

1919 - “Don Carlos” by Friedrich Schiller; director A. N. Lavrentiev 1919 - “Macbeth” by W. Shakespeare; director Yu. M. Yuryev 1919 - “The Robbers” by F. Schiller; director B. M. Sushkevich 1919 - “Danton” by M. Levberg; director K. K. Tverskoy 1920 - “Othello” by W. Shakespeare; director A. N. Lavrentyev 1920 - “Tsarevich Alexei” by D. Merezhkovsky; directors A. N. Benois and A. N. Lavrentiev 1920 - “King Lear” by W. Shakespeare; director A. N. Lavrentiev 1921 - “Ruy Blas” by V. Hugo; director N.V. Petrov 1921 - “The Servant of Two Masters” by C. Goldoni; director A. N. Benois 1922 - “Gas” by G. Kaiser; director K. Khokhlov 1924 - “Riot of the Machines” by A. N. Tolstoy; director K. Khokhlov 1924 - “Virgin Forest” by E. Toller; director K. Khokhlov 1925 - “The Conspiracy of the Empress” by A. Tolstoy and P. Shchegolev; director A. N. Lavrentiev 1925 - “Mutiny” by B. Lavrenev; director A. N. Lavrentiev 1926 - “The Flea” by E. Zamyatin; director N. F. Monakhov 1927 - “The Fault” by B. Lavrenev; director K. Tverskoy 1929 - “Enemies” by B. Lavrenev; director A. N. Lavrentyev 1929 - “Windy City” by V. Kirshon; director K. Tverskoy 1929 - “Conspiracy of Feelings” by Y. Olesha; director K. Tverskoy 1932 - “My Friend” N. Pogodin; director K. Tverskoy 1932 - “Egor Bulychev and others” by M. Gorky; directors K. Tverskoy and V. V. Lyutse 1933 - “Dostigaev and others” by M. Gorky; director V. Lutse 1934 - “Intervention” by L. Slavin; director V. Lutse 1935 - “Richard III” by W. Shakespeare; director K. Tverskoy.

Period of directing crisis (1935-1955)

In the 30-50s, bright directors appeared in the theater, however, having made a name for themselves with interesting productions, they left the theater for one reason or another, not always voluntarily. Konstantin Tverskoy was first expelled from Leningrad and then shot; Alexei Dikiy, who headed the theater in 1936, was arrested in August 1937 and then convicted.

...For seven years this theater was practically without a real leader. They did a collegium. They invited a wonderful person, director Konstantin Pavlovich Khokhlov, who was already old and sick. They "ate" him. There was a very evil troupe here, there were a lot of them. For seven years, everyone who was not too lazy came to this theater... -Dina Schwartz

After Dikiy, the post of chief director was occupied by:

1938-1940 - Boris Babochkin 1940-1946 - Lev Rudnik 1946-1950 - Natalya Rashevskaya 1950-1952 - Ivan Efremov 1954-1955 - Konstantin Khokhlov

Such frequent changes of artistic direction affected both the atmosphere in the team and the quality of productions. By the end of the 30s, the theater lost popularity.

At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the theater was evacuated to Kirov, but soon after the blockade was broken, on February 11, 1943, it returned to Leningrad to serve the troops of the Leningrad Front and hospitals.

The creative crisis of the BDT, which emerged in the late 30s, worsened in the post-war years. Artistic directors did not stay long: in the period from 1949 to 1955, the theater had four main directors; in the 1953-1954 season, the Bolshoi Drama Theater did without a chief director at all - it was managed by a board. In conditions when a new person was at the head of the theater almost every season, there could be no talk of any development plan or well-thought-out repertoire policy. All this led to the fact that in the mid-50s the theater did not have “its own” audience; Due to extremely low attendance (at other performances there were “less audiences in the hall than there were artists on stage”), a significant financial debt arose, which threatened the theater with closure.

The director's leapfrog had a negative impact on the management of the theater; the troupe simply “ate” unwanted directors. In the BDT at that time there were many talented actors, but some who did not belong to the leadership group were not in demand, others were stereotyped in their roles, and others, in the absence of artistic management, feeling like the owners of the theater, allowed themselves whatever they wanted on stage.

Selected repertoire

See also Performances of the Bolshoi Drama Theater

1936 - “Sailors from Cattaro” F. Wolf; director A. Dikiy 1937 - “The Bourgeois” by M. Gorky; director A. Dikiy 1938 - “Pious Martha” by Tirso de Molina; director N.V. Petrov 1939 - “Summer Residents” by M. Gorky; director B. Babochkin 1941 - “King Lear” by W. Shakespeare; director G. Kozintsev (with music by D. Shostakovich) 1944 - “At the Lower Depths” by M. Gorky; director L. S. Rudnik 1948 - “Enemies” by M. Gorky; director N. S. Rashevskaya 1949 - “The Servant of Two Masters” by C. Goldoni; director A.V. Sokolov 1949 - “Egor Bulychev and others” by M. Gorky; director N. S. Rashevskaya 1950 - “The Fault” by B. Lavrenev; directors A.V. Sokolov and I.S. Sonne 1951 - “Yarovaya Love” by K. Trenev; director I. S. Efremov 1952 - “Dostigaev and others” by M. Gorky; director N. S. Rashevskaya 1954 - “Guests” by L. Zorin; directors V.V. Merkuryev and I.V. Meyerhold 1955 - “Before Sunset” by G. Hauptmann; director K. P. Khokhlov.

The era of Georgy Tovstonogov (1956-1989)

Georgy Tovstonogov did not immediately accept the offer to head the BDT. However, for the sake of saving the “first proletarian theater”, at the insistence of the Leningrad party bodies supervising the theaters, Tovstonogov nevertheless agreed to become the eleventh chief director of the Bolshoi Drama Theater and on February 13, 1956, on the eve of the theater’s next birthday, he was introduced to the troupe.

Theater foyer

For six years of work as chief director of the Leningrad Theater. Lenin Komsomol Georgy Tovstonogov forced the discerning Leningrad theater community to talk about himself as an extremely talented and successful director. Staged by him in 1955 on the stage of the Leningrad Drama Theater. Pushkin's performance "Optimistic Tragedy" based on the play by Vsevolod Vishnevsky (later awarded the Lenin Prize) was liked by the party leadership no less than by the public and played an important role in his new appointment.

The new artistic director was given broad powers; from the Leningrad Lenkom Tovstonogov invited Dina Schwartz to the post of head of the literary department; To carry out the administrative reorganization of the BDT, Georgy Korkin was appointed director of the theater. “He was cruel, he was merciless,” recalled Dina Schwartz. - He could reorganize everything, fire everyone he needed. And he ran to Georgy Alexandrovich every day.” At his first meeting with the troupe, touching on the topic of “eating” artistic directors, Tovstonogov declared: “I am inedible! Remember this: inedible! With the blessing of the authorities, the new artistic director fired about a third of the troupe - more than 30 actors.

In his first year at the BDT, Tovstonogov literally “lured” the audience into a theater they had forgotten; Based on the fact that “people go to the theater not only for benefit,” the new artistic director did not shy away from entertainment: he staged the comedies “The Sixth Floor” by Alfred Gery and “When the Acacia Blooms” by Nikolas Vinnikov, “The Nameless Star” by Mikhail Sebastianu... By the beginning of 1957 year Tovstonogov managed to turn the situation around: the performances were already performed to full houses. The new BDT, the “Tovstonogov Theater,” began with the play “Aesop” (based on the play by Guilherme Figueiredo), presented to the audience on March 23, 1957; "Aesop" was followed by the legendary "The Idiot" with Innokenty Smoktunovsky.

The decline in interest in theater since the late 30s, according to Joseph Yuzovsky, was a general trend; not only the Bolshoi Drama Theater, but the entire Soviet theater experienced a crisis during these years. Tovstonogov’s transition to the Bolshoi Dramatic Theater coincided with the beginning of the “thaw”; he was one of the first to recognize new opportunities in the changed atmosphere; “Aesop” has already become a “symbol of the thaw”; two years later, during a discussion of Gorky’s “Barbarians,” Yuzovsky, a witness to the bright flowering of the theater in the 1920s, writing about the performances of Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko and Vsevolod Meyerhold, said: “What you do has to do with more than just one To the Bolshoi Drama Theatre... I want you not to slow down and feel responsible and understand that there is a thirst for real and big theater. He has been gone for so long and this claim can be realized in this theatre...” Tovstonogov did not disappoint expectations: “Barbarians” was followed by “Five Evenings” by Alexander Volodin and a whole series of other performances that were included in the “golden fund” of the Soviet theater.

The big dramatic actor, although he was never tired of being praised by the central Soviet press, right up to Pravda, especially after recognition abroad (which did not exclude abusive articles, including in Pravda), lived under the constant supervision of party bodies; L. Zorin’s “Roman Comedy” was not released, with difficulty, at the cost of numerous concessions, Tovstonogov managed to save the play “Three Bags of Weedy Wheat” based on the story by Vladimir Tendryakov - about the post-war famine in the village and post-war repressions, for a long time and painfully he had to fight for one of the most favorite performances by the audience - “The Price”, for the sole reason that the author of the play, Arthur Miller, allowed himself critical statements about the foreign policy of the USSR; released productions often had to be adjusted. So, in the play “Woe from Wit”, a quote from A.S. Pushkin was placed on the supercurtain, like an epigraph: “The devil guessed that I would be born in Russia with soul and talent,” - in the end the quote had to be removed. And yet, Tovstonogov’s era in the history of the Bolshoi Drama Theater became “golden”; Over the course of three decades of his leadership, the BDT remained the leader of the domestic theatrical process, the “first stage of the country,” enjoying constant success abroad: the only European country the BDT visited over the years was Portugal, toured Japan, Argentina, Israel, and twice to Taiwan ... “The Bolshoi Drama Theater,” wrote A. Svobodin in 1970, “knows how to create performances - cultural values. They find themselves on a par with the publication of multi-volume collected works of great writers, with publications that shed new light on the history of the country.” And P. A. Markov stated six years later: “Whatever judgments - from enthusiastic, choking to skeptical and arrogant - you can make about Tovstonogov’s performances, it remains equally obvious that Tovstonogov occupies a special and extremely significant place in our theatrical life. You cannot ignore him by deliberate inattention, you cannot deny his decisive, firmly established influence on the Soviet theater. In addition, there are all the signs of external - sometimes triumphant - success... And yet Tovstonogov does not take the minimum step in order to beg the viewer for success... Tovstonogov's theater is devoid of the slightest shade of sensationalism... Success confirms that the theater hits the very point of the country's social and artistic interests... »

Directors Rosa Sirota (1955-1962 and 1966-1972), Ruben Agamirzyan (1961-1966), Yuri Aksenov (1961-1983), Gennady Egorov (1982-1984) worked with Tovstonogov at different times ) and each of them contributed to the “golden fund” of the BDT.

Troupe

The troupe created by Tovstonogov, according to the famous Polish director Erwin Axer, who staged more than one performance at the Bolshoi Drama Theater, “could compete with the best European groups”: “The leading actors of this theater, masters of their craft, were in no way inferior to world-famous stars, and perhaps even surpassed them in their ability to combine ensemble playing with individual virtuosity.” Domestic theater experts are ready to argue with Akser: “The Bolshoi Drama Troupe,” says N. Staroselskaya, in particular, “could not compete with the best European groups, because for several decades it was the greatest troupe in the world.” According to K. Rudnitsky, getting into the Bolshoi Drama Theater in the 80s was even more difficult than getting into the Moscow Art Theater troupe of the 30s and 40s, where all-Union stars numbered in the dozens. In 1988, formulating the principles by which he selected actors for his theater, Tovstonogov, with his reputation as a despot and dictator, named among the mandatory ones “intellectual level” (“everything important, interesting in our life should concern him”) and “ability to improvisational search in the process of work.” Tovstonogov knew how to make the actor a co-author of the play; as theater critic T. Zlotnikova noted, he loved actors “like a class,” but he loved them demandingly, sometimes even burdensomely.

“In the BDT troupe,” writes Elena Gorfunkel, “Tovstonogov had several main actresses - Nina Olkhina, Lyudmila Makarova, Emma Popova, Zinaida Sharko, Tatyana Doronina.” But next to them there were also such wonderful non-chief ones as Valentina Kovel and Maria Prizvan-Sokolova, whom N. Staroselskaya also included in the “very, very small circle of stars”; in the 70s, young Natalya Tenyakova competed with dignity against the “main ones”.

As for the male part of the troupe, the list of “stars” could be endless: already in the 60s, next to the highly experienced Vitaly Polizeymako, Evgeny Lebedev, Efim Kopelyan and Vladislav Strzhelchik, the young Pavel Luspekayev, Sergei Yursky, Kirill Lavrov, Oleg became famous Borisov, Oleg Basilashvili, Vladimir Receptor; in the 70s, viewers came to know and love Gennady Bogachev, Yuri Demich and Andrei Tolubeev; and there were also Nikolai Korn, Pavel Pankov, Nikolai Trofimov, Vsevolod Kuznetsov, Vadim Medvedev... A separate page in the history of the Tovstonogov Drama Theater is Innokenty Smoktunovsky, although he played only one unforgettable role on this stage.

Georgy Tovstonogov headed the Bolshoi Drama Theater for thirty-three years; On May 23, 1989, returning home after a dress rehearsal for the play “A Visit from the Old Lady,” he died while driving his car.

Selected repertoire

See also Performances of the Bolshoi Drama Theater

1957 - “Aesop” by G. Figueiredo; director G. A. Tovstonogov 1957 - “The Idiot” based on the novel by F. M. Dostoevsky; director G. A. Tovstonogov 1959 - “Barbarians” by A. M. Gorky; director G. A. Tovstonogov 1959 - “Five Evenings” by A. M. Volodin; director G. A. Tovstonogov 1960 - “Death of the Squadron” by A. E. Korneychuk; director G. A. Tovstonogov 1961 - “My Elder Sister” by A. M. Volodin; director G. A. Tovstonogov 1962 - “Woe from Wit” by A. Griboyedov; director G. A. Tovstonogov 1963 - “The Career of Arturo Ui” by B. Brecht; director E. Akser 1964 - “I, Grandma, Iliko and Illarion” N. Dumbadze, G. Lordkipanidze; director R. S. Agamirzyan 1965 - “Three Sisters” by A. Chekhov; director G. A. Tovstonogov 1966 - “The Bourgeois” by A. M. Gorky; director G. A. Tovstonogov 1968 - “The Price” by A. Miller; director R. A. Sirota 1971 - “Toot, others and the major” by I. Erken; director G. A. Tovstonogov 1972 - “The Inspector General” by N. V. Gogol; director G. A. Tovstonogov 1972 - “Khanuma” by Tsagareli; director G. A. Tovstonogov 1973 - “Molière” by M. Bulgakov; director S. Yu. Yursky 1974 - “Three bags of weedy wheat” by V. F. Tendryakov, director G. A. Tovstonogov 1975 - “The Story of a Horse” based on the story by L. N. Tolstoy; director G. A. Tovstonogov 1977 - “Quiet Don” based on M. Sholokhov; director G. A. Tovstonogov 1981 - “Optimistic Tragedy” by V. Vishnevsky; director G. A. Tovstonogov 1982 - “Uncle Vanya” by A. Chekhov; director G. A. Tovstonogov 1983 - “Sisters” (“Garden without land”) by L. Razumovskaya; director G. S. Egorov 1983 - “The Death of Tarelkin” by A. Kolker (opera-farce based on the comedy by A. Sukhovo-Kobylin); director G. A. Tovstonogov.

After Tovstonogov (1989-2013)

Many had the feeling that on May 23, 1989, not only Tovstonogov died, the BDT died; Tatyana Doronina spoke about this at the memorial service, and Dina Schwartz wrote about the same in her diary. Tovstonogov did not prepare a successor for himself: a new director will come and create his own theater. But the new director did not come (thus, Lev Dodin’s transition to the Bolshoi Drama Theater did not take place), difficult times were coming for the entire Russian theater; very soon the BDT, like many theaters, faced the question of survival.

During this period, the theater was headed by Kirill Lavrov, elected by secret vote of the staff; he was not a director, and one of the main concerns of the new artistic director, along with preserving the troupe and solving financial problems, was the search for talented directors in general and the main director in particular. Only in 2004 did the theater finally find a chief director in the person of Temur Chkheidze, who had long collaborated with the BDT. In an interview in 2007, Chkheidze said: “I knew: whatever you do here, it will be worse than in the time of Tovstonogov. But it doesn’t exist, and in general, tovstonogs are born extremely rarely. But life goes on, and while I admire the theater that once existed, I don’t stage it like Tovstonogov.”

In recent years, critics have written about stagnation at the Bolshoi Drama Theater, and on February 19, 2013, Temur Chkheidze resigned. He explained the reasons for his resignation at a press conference on March 4: “Now, probably, the time has come when the BDT needs changes, which I personally cannot accept. Many call me a retrograde, but this was my principled path - to preserve Tovstonogov’s legacy. I am convinced that in less than 10 years the Russian theater will again need classics. One young man told me that my performances are perceived as anachronistic. I appreciate his honesty."

Today's theater day

The main stage of the theater presents works of Russian and world classics, as well as modern drama: plays by A. N. Ostrovsky, L. N. Tolstoy, N. V. Gogol, I. S. Turgenev, W. Shakespeare, F. Schiller, B. Shaw, R. Harwood, M. Frain and others.

On the Small Stage are “The Old Man and the Sea” by E. Hemingway, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” by E. Albee, “The Lady with the Dog” by A. P. Chekhov, “The Angel Doll” by E. S. Kochergin, “Berendey” by S. A Nosova.

Since March 29, 2013, the artistic director of the theater has been Andrei Moguchiy, the main artist for four decades has been Eduard Kochergin. The head of the musical department of the theater since 1998 is composer Nikolai Morozov.

The following directors work at the theater on a permanent basis: Nikolai Pinigin, Andrey Maksimov, Grigory Dityatkovsky. Performances at the BDT are also staged by guest directors.

Current repertoire

See also Performances of the Bolshoi Drama Theater

2002 - “Heartbreak House” by Bernard Shaw; director T. N. Chkheidze 2004 - “Copenhagen” by Michael Frayn; director T. N. Chkheidze 2005 - “Quartet” by Ronald Harwood; director N. N. Pinigin 2007 - “Whim!” P. M. Nevezhin, A. N. Ostrovsky; director G. R. Trostyanetsky; composer N. A. Morozov 2007 - “The Night Before Christmas” by N. V. Gogol; director N. N. Pinigin 2008 - “Uncle’s Dream” by F. M. Dostoevsky; director T. N. Chkheidze 2009 - “Don Carlos, Infant of Spain” by F. Schiller; director T. N. Chkheidze 2009 - “A Month in the Village” by I. S. Turgenev; director A. A. Proudin; composer N. A. Morozov 2010 - “School of Taxpayers” by L. Verneuil, J. Berra; director N. N. Pinigin 2010 - “Beauty Queen” by Martin McDonagh; director E.V. Chernyshov 2010 - “Mercy” by I.D. Syringe; director V. A. Zolotar 2010 - “One Summer” by Ernest Thompson; director A. M. Prikotenko 2011 - “The House of Bernarda Alba” by Garcia Lorca; director T. N. Chkheidze; composer N. A. Morozov 2011 - “On Foot” by Slavomir Mrozhek; director Andrzej Buben 2011 - “The Time of Women” by E. S. Chizhova; director G. R. Trostyanetsky; composer N. A. Morozov

Troupe

The years of service of the artists in the BDT are indicated in brackets

Marina Adashevskaya Boris Babochkin (1931-1940) Oleg Basilashvili (since 1959) Tatyana Bedova (since 1976) Gennady Bogachev (since 1969) Oleg Borisov (1964-1983) Irute Vengalite (since 1988) Mikhail Volkov (1961-2001) Olga Volkova ( 1976-1996) Dora Volpert (1932-1941) Grigory Gai (1956-1984) Anatoly Garichev (1959-1993) Dmitry Golubinsky (1919-1924) Ekaterina Gorokhovskaya Elena Granovskaya (1939-1966) Mikhail Danilov (1966-1994) On Talya Danilova (1977-1992) Yuri Demich (1973-1988) Alexey Dikiy (1936-1937) - chief director Tatyana Doronina (1959-1966) Izil Zabludovsky (1947-2010) Mikhail Ivanov (1929-1964) Valery Ivchenko (since 1983) Marina Ignatova (since 1998) Olga Kaziko (1927-1963) Valentina Kibardina (1936-1956) Valentina Kovel (1966-1997) Inna Kondratyeva (1958-1962) Efim Kopelyan (1935-1941, 1943-1975) Nikolai Korn (1935-1941) , 1943-1971) Ivan Krasko (1961-1965) Svetlana Kryuchkova (since 1976) Alexandra Kulikova (since 1998) Andrey Lavrentiev (1919-1921 and 1923-1935) Kirill Lavrov (1955-2007) - artistic director (since 1989) Fedor Lavrov (since 2007) Masha Lavrova (since 1993) Evgeny Lebedev (1956-1997) Sergei Losev (since 1980) Pavel Luspekayev (1959-1967)

Alexander Mazaev (1933-1957) Lyudmila Makarova (since 1945) Larisa Malevannaya (since 1976) Vadim Medvedev (1966-1988) Georgy Menglet (1936-1937) Yuzef Mironenko (1969-2011) Nikolai Monakhov (1919-1936) Mikhail Morozov ( 1983-1987, and since 1990) Leonid Nevedomsky (since 1967) Anna Borisovna Nikritina-Marienhof Andrey Noskov (since 1998) Nina Olkhina (since 1947) Pavel Pankov (1947-1950, 1965-1978) Vahram Papazyan Elena Pertseva (since 1985) Vitaly Polizeymako (1930-1967) Elena Popova (from 1978) Emma Popova (1962-1989) Maria Prizvan-Sokolova (1931-2001) Vladimir Recepter (1962-1987) Vera Romanova (1936-1974) Evgeny Sidikhin (from 1989) Skorobogatov , Konstantin Vasilyevich (1928-1935) Innokenty Smoktunovsky (1957-1960, 1966) Vasily Sofronov (1918-1960) Vladislav Strzhelchik (1938-1995) Yuri Stoyanov (1978-1995) Vladimir Tatosov (since 1963) Natalya Tenyakova (1 968-1979 ) Semyon Tymoshenko (1919-1924) Andrei Tolubeev (1975-2008) Yuri Tolubeev (1978-1979) Yuri Tomoshevsky (1978-1991) Nikolai Trofimov (1964-2005) Nina Usatova (C 1989) Alisa Freindlich (C 193) Zidida Sharko (since 1956) Georgy Shtil (since 1961) Sergei Yursky (1957-1979) Yuri Yuryev (1919-1921)

Television recordings of performances

Lyubov Yarovaya (1953) Dostigaev and others (1959) Aesop (1960) Bourgeois (1971) The truth! Nothing but the truth! Hanuma (1978) Energetic People Uncle Vanya (1985) The Pickwick Club (1986) The Story of a Horse (1989)