The Central Academic Theatre of the Russian Army (Russian: Центральный академический театр Российской армии) is the largest

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

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 million ...

. It was established in 1929 as the Red Army Theatre, was renamed the ''Soviet Army Theatre'' in 1951 and has always specialized in war-themed productions. The huge building, dominating the Suvorov Square and scored to resemble a red Soviet star, was constructed between 1934 and 1940. This prime example of the

Stalinist architecture Stalinist architecture, mostly known in the former Eastern Bloc as Stalinist style () or Socialist Classicism, is the architecture of the Soviet Union under the leadership of Joseph Stalin, between 1933 (when Boris Iofan's draft for the Palace ...

was designed by

Karo Halabyan Karo Semyonovich Halabyan (russian: Каро Семёнович Алабян, hy, Կարո Հալաբյան) (26 July 1897, Elisabethpol, now Ganja - 5 January 1959, Moscow) was a Soviet Armenian architect. He earned the title of emeritus art wor ...

and V. Simbirtsev. The theatre has been supposed to have the largest stage in all of Europe. It was large enough to host real tanks, cavalry and big models of ships. The auditorium has 1,900 seats. The theatre's first and best known director, Aleksey Popov, staged some of the most monumental theatre productions in the Soviet Union. He was succeeded in 1963 by his son, Andrei Popov. The theatre's brightest stars included Lyudmila Kasatkina,

Vladimir Zeldin Vladimir Mikhailovich Zeldin (russian: Владимир Михайлович Зельдин; 10 February 1915 – 31 October 2016) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. A centenarian, he was among the longest-serving stage performers an ...

, Nina Sazonova, Lyudmila Chursina,

Larisa Golubkina Larisa Ivanovna Golubkina (Russian: ''Лари́са Ива́новна Голу́бкина''; born 9 March 1940, in Moscow, Soviet Union) is a Russian actress. She entered the Moscow Musical School in 1955, graduating after four years, and the ...

Nikolai Pastukhov Nikolai Isaakovich Pastukhov (russian: Николай Исаакович Пастухов;Boris Plotnikov Boris Grigoryevich Plotnikov (russian: Борис Григорьевич Плотников; 2 April 1949 – 2 December 2020)

Fyodor Chekhankov Fyodor, Fedor (russian: Фёдор) or Feodor is the Russian form of the name "Theodore" meaning “God’s Gift”. Fedora () is the feminine form. Fyodor and Fedor are two English transliterations of the same Russian name. It may refer to: Giv ...

, and

Lyubov Dobrzhanskaya Lyubov Ivanovna Dobrzhanskaya (russian: Любо́вь Ива́новна Добржа́нская; 24 December 1905 — 3 November 1980) was a Soviet singer and actress of theater and cinema. She won the Stalin Prize II degree in 1951 and the P ...

External links

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Official website
{{Authority control Theatres in Moscow Architecture in the Soviet Union Stalinist architecture Theatres completed in 1940 Theatres built in the Soviet Union Soviet Army Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Moscow