Mayakovsky Theater (russian: Театр Маяковского; Московский академический театр имени Вл. Маяковского) is a theater in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
, 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 (, ; rus, Влади́мир Влади́мирович Маяко́вский, , vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ məjɪˈkofskʲɪj, Ru-Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky.ogg, links=y; – 14 Apr ...
.
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, Eleonora Duse,
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 at Breslau, Bern, and Hamburg. Connected with the Munich Court Theatre after 1864, he became the oberregiss ...
, 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 (russian: Всеволод Эмильевич Мейерхольд, translit=Vsévolod Èmíl'evič Mejerchól'd; born german: Karl Kasimir Theodor Meyerhold; 2 February 1940) was a Russian and Soviet theatre ...
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 ''
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; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...
’s "Marriage" and "Karamazovs" after
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...
(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.
Zinaida Reich
Zinaida Nikolayevna Reich (the last name also spelled Raikh or Raih; russian: Зинаида Николаевна Райх; – 15 July 1939) was a Russian actress and one of the main stars of the Meyerhold Theatre until it was closed under Jose ...
Zoya Fyodorova
Zoya Alekseyevna Fyodorova (russian: Зоя Алексеевна Федорова; 11 December 1981) was a Russian film star who had an affair with American Navy captain Jackson Tate in 1945 and bore a child, Victoria Fyodorova in January 1946. ...
(1907-1981)
*
Sergey Martinson
Sergey Alexandrovich Martinson (russian: Серге́й Александрович Мартинсон; – 2 September 1984) was a Russian eccentric comic actor, the master of pantomime, buffoonery and grotesque. He became People's Artist of t ...
Vladimir Belokurov
Vladimir Vyacheslavovich Belokurov (russian: link=no, Влади́мир Вячесла́вович Белоку́ров; July 8, 1904 – January 28, 1973) was a Soviet and Russian actor and pedagogue. He was a People's Artist of the USSR (19 ...
Andrei Boltnev
Andrei Nikolayevich Boltnev (russian: Андре́й Никола́евич Бо́лтнев; January 5, 1946, Ufa — May 12, 1995, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian actor.
Biography
Andrei Boltnev was born January 5, 1946, in Ufa.
Andrei Bol ...
Anatoli Romashin
Anatoli Vladimirovich Romashin (russian: Анато́лий Влади́мирович Рома́шин; 1931–2000) was a Soviet and Russian film and theater actor, director. He won the USSR State Prize (1977) and was a People's Artist of t ...
Galina Belyayeva
Galina Viktorovna Belyaeva (russian: Галина Викторовна Беляева; born 26 April 1961) is a Soviet and Russian film and theatre actress, best known for her leading roles in ''A Hunting Accident'' (1977) and ''Anna Pavlova'' ( ...