Romen Theatre (russian: link=no, Московский музыкально-драматический театр "Ромэн") is the oldest and the most famous of

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

theatres in the world. The theatre is a key object of

Romani culture The Romani people are a distinct ethnic and cultural group of peoples living all across the globe, who share a family of languages and sometimes a traditional nomadic mode of life. Though their exact origins are unclear, central India is a no ...

in Russia, and from the moment of its foundation in 1931, it has been a centre of attraction for Romani artists in Russia.

Forerunners of Romen Theatre

In the 18th and 19th centuries,

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

es of

Ruska Roma The Ruska Roma (russian: Руска́ Рома́), also known as Russian Gypsies (russian: Русские цыгане) or ''Xaladitka Roma'' (russian: Халадытка Рома, translit=Khaladytka Roma, ''i.e.'' "Roma-Soldiers"), are the ...

existed in Moscow and

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. At the end of the 19th century, a conductor of one of Romani choruses,

Nikolai Shishkin Nikolai Shishkin (Kursk, 1845-1911) was a Ruska Roma guitarist and singer in the Sokolovsky gypsy choir, Sokolovsky Gypsy choir (Соколовский хор). After the death of choir leader Grigory Sokolov Shishkin he led the choir and inherite ...

created the first ever Romani theatre troupe. The first appearance of the troupe was in the

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

''Gypsy Songs in Characters'' (russian: link=no, Цыганские песни в лицах), with the main troupe of Arcadia Theatre. This was in 1886. The operetta ran for several years. On 13 April 1887 the first performance of

Strauss Strauss, Strauß or Straus is a common Germanic surname. Outside Germany and Austria ''Strauß'' is always spelled ''Strauss'' (the letter " ß" is not used in the German-speaking part of Switzerland). In classical music, "Strauss" usually ref ...

's operetta ''

The Gypsy Baron ''The Gypsy Baron'' () is an operetta in three acts by Johann Strauss II which premiered at the Theater an der Wien on 24 October 1885. Its German libretto by Ignaz Schnitzer is based on the unpublished 1883 story ''Saffi'' by Mór Jókai. Jokai ...

'' with Roma (Shishkin's troupe) playing the roles of Roma took place in the

Maly Theatre The Maly Theatre, or Mali Theatre, may refer to one of several different theatres: * The Maly Theatre (Moscow), also known as The State Academic Maly Theatre of Russia, in Moscow (founded in 1756 and given its own building in 1824) * The Maly Thea ...

. On 20 March 1888 the

premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

of the very first

Romani language Romani (; also Romany, Romanes , Roma; rom, rromani ćhib, links=no) is an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities. According to '' Ethnologue'', seven varieties of Romani are divergent enough to be considered languages of their ...

operetta ''Children of the Forests'' was staged in the Maly Theatre. It was performed solely by the Romani troupe. The production ran for 18 years and was a great success. In 1892, Shishkin produced a new operetta, ''Gypsy Life''. In the 1920s, many Romani ensembles of singers, dancers and musicians performed in the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

Theatre history

On 24 January 1931 the Romani theatre studio "Indo-Romen" opened in Moscow. Within a month, the studio performed its first work. The first director and the first music composer of "Indo-Romen" were Jewish activists,

Moishe Goldblat Moses ( el, Μωϋσῆς),from Latin and Greek Moishe ( yi, משה),from Yiddish Moshe ( he, מֹשֶׁה),from Modern Hebrew or Movses ( Armenian: Մովսես) from Armenian is a male given name, after the biblical figure Moses. According to t ...

and

Semen Bugachevsky Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is an organic bodily fluid created to contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize the female ovum. Semen is ...

. Alexander Tyshler was most often invited for stage design. On 16 December 1931 the studio showed its first full musical-dramathic performance ''Life on Wheels'' (russian: link=no, Жизнь на колёсах). It consisted of three acts and was based on a play by Romani author

Alexandr Germano Alexander is a male given name. Alexander may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''Alexander'' (1996 film), a Tamil action film * ''Alexander'' (2004 film), an epic about Alexander the Great directed by Oliver Stone * ''Alexander'' ...

. After that performance, the studio was renamed the Romen Theatre. The first theatre director was Georgy Lebedev (a Rusko Rom). Since 1940, the theatre does all its performances in Russian. The current theatre director (2008) is

Nikolai Slichenko Nikolai Alekseyevich Slichenko (russian: link=no, Никола́й Алексе́евич Сличе́нко; 27 December 1934 — 2 July 2021) was a Soviet and Russian singer, actor and chief director of the Romen Theatre in Moscow. He was the ...

, a Romani actor famous in Russia.

Selected notable figures associated with Romen Theatre

Sasha Kolpakov Aleksandr Alexandrovich Kolpakov (russian: Александр Александрович Колпаков ; (born 15 February 1943 in Buzuluk, Orenburg Oblast, RSFSR, Soviet Union) is a Soviet and Russian guitarist, singer and composer. Biogra ...

, guitarist, vocalist, composer * Valentina Ponomaryova, actor, singer *

, actor *

Nina Dudarova Nina Alexandrovna Dudarova (Russian: Нина Александровна Дударова; Saint Petersburg, 1903 – Moscow, 1992) was a Roma poet, teacher, writer and translator. She was born in Saint Petersburg to a Roma mother (who was a sing ...

, poet, teacher, writer and translator

Literature

* * * *

References

External links