St. Petersburg Academic Theater named after the Lensovet: repertoire, description and actors

In the life of each person there are so-called sign, and maybe even cult places. For the theater-goers, one of these places, of course, is the St. Petersburg Academic Theater named after the Lensovet. Not only residents of the city, but also any tourist or traveler tries to get to the play in this temple of Melpomene.

New century - a new culture

In the XIX century, municipal theaters were not so much. In the main, the actors' troupes were supported by sponsors and performed on the stage of "home" theaters. The access of the general public to such submissions was closed.

The beginning of the twentieth century was marked by a revolution not only in the political life of the country. Transformations also touched on all areas of art - artists, poets and prose writers, choreographers and directors of the beginning of the century felt freedom and presented their experimental creations to the court of worship. Against the background of modern art, it is not surprising that in 1933 a theater appeared in St. Petersburg, which was called the "New." Later, the troupe, led by Isaac Kroll, turned into the Academic Theater named after the Lensovet.

The Dutch Church

The first performance took place in the building of the Dutch church, located on Nevsky Prospekt. The church building did not have all the necessary conditions for placing the theater in it, and soon after the first performances the fire nearly took the whole team with them. The theater, when it started, almost ceased to exist.

But the performances of director Kroll (a pupil of VE Meyerhold) impressed both the audience and critics. The brilliant play of the actors who stood at the origins of this temple Melpomene, was not left without attention. Representatives of the theater and arts asked the authorities to address the authorities, and in 1936 the St. Petersburg Academic Theater named after Lensovet resumed its activity in the reconstructed room for theatrical productions of Pavlova. On the Trinity Street there were again posters of Alexander Ostrovsky's play "Mad Money", from which the history of this troupe began.

During the Second World War, the building was heavily damaged by bombing, and artists returned from a long tour of the Far East to the new premises - the former private residence of Prince VP Golitsyn, and the Lensovet Academic Theater changed address to Vladimirsky Prospect 12.

Meyerholdovshchina

In the late 30's, art figures began to fight with progressive filmmakers and actors. The desire to modernize, read in their own way classical works now no one surprises, but, on the contrary, is very popular. Then, having received the general name, "Meyerhold" (a derivative of the name of the director VE Meyerhold) scared and even repelled. Creative, looking for new ways in the art of people, reality did not accept and outlived.

In this cycle there were some theaters in St. Petersburg. The Lensovet Theater is no exception. The main director, Isaak Kroll, was dismissed from his post. By the decision of the city heads of culture, his place was taken by BM Sushkevich.

Unity of Education

Outstanding actor, teacher BM Sushkevich, brought with him several graduates of the theatrical institute. After working with AP Chekhov and EB Vakhtangov in the First Studio of the Moscow Art Theater, studying with Stanislavsky and Solerzhitsky, Boris Mikhailovich was convinced that for the success of the company, a "one wave" (like Would say now). Only this unity of perception and the methodological basis of the work will allow us to truly discover and convey the essence of the work of art. It was this message that he brought to the Academic Theater named after the Lensovet. St. Petersburg quickly won the refined, aesthetic and at the same time rather modern stage decisions of BM Sushkevich.

Very diverse, but with the right and balanced repertoire made it possible to reveal to virtually all the actors of the troupe. In the productions of Schiller ("Maria Stewart", "The Conspiracy of Fiesco in Genoa") Nadezhda Bromley, wife and associate of Sushkevich shone on the stage. This woman was also a writer and director; Thanks to her attention and romanticism, the performances received even more exalted, vivid colors.

Deep psychological study of the characters, the audience with a sinking heart, "read" in "Restless old age" (L. Rakhmanov), "Meshchan" (M. Gorky), "Mean" (J.-B. Moliere). Only having created a real ensemble from the troupe, Sushkevich himself came on the stage and played the outstanding role in the world drama Matthias Clausen from the drama "Before the Sunset" by G. Hauptmann. The play is rightfully called a theatrical legend by critics.

"Cultural service of soldiers"

It was with this formulation that the St. Petersburg Academic Theater named after the Lensovet in October 1940 was sent to a long tour to the Far East. The news of the war caught the actors in Khabarovsk. The tour lasted for 5 years. Until the summer of 1945, the theater worked in Siberia and the Urals, the Far East and the Far North. Frontier outposts, cities, gold mines and warships saw 1,300 performances and almost 1,000 concerts. Actors regularly traveled to the active units with a front-line brigade.

Of course, in such a difficult time, artists could just act in front of the audience, supporting them. But, in spite of everything, the repertory of the Lensovet Theater was renewed. There were performances by K. Simonov, A. Korneichuk, V. Solovyov, who showed the life of the front and the experiences of those who remained behind.

Akimov's link

After the death of Sushkevich in 1946, the directors did not stay in the theater for more than one season. For some time the St. Petersburg Academic Theater named after the Lensovet was headed by Nadezhda Bromley, who put the Nora on Ibsen's play. This was a significant event in the theatrical life of the city. Then the director was the actress Galina Korotkevich. Next came a succession of successive directors, until finally Nikolai Pavlovich Akimov appeared in the theater. He was demoted and "exiled" from the Comedy Theater for the "formalism" that I. Kroll suffered from.

Akimov brought fresh air, and the troupe came to life. In addition to the new acting names, which became known to the public due to the sharpness of the artistic vision of the director, new performances also appeared: the first Soviet musical "Spring in Moscow", the dramatic Russian satire of ME Saltykov-Shchedrin and AV resumed. Sukhovo-Kobylin. Nikolai Pavlovich believed that classical works should not be forgotten, it is through them that it is possible and necessary to instill tastes and understanding of theatrical aesthetics to the viewer.

And on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the troupe of the New Theater, he was given the name of the Leningrad Soviet.

The Epoch of Vladimirov

In 1956, Akimov returned to his native Comedy Theater, and the main directors of the Leningrad City Council were replaced before they could "get down to duties." But in 1960 the post of the main director was received by Igor Petrovich Vladimirov. And the even more interesting life of the troupe began. Vladimirov turned out to be the leader whom the actors were waiting for and waiting for.

Like all directors, he began as an actor. Having worked at GA Tovstonogov, Igor Petrovich began to assist him in staging performances and mastered this profession. The appointment of Vladimirova and the transfer in 1962 to the State Academic Theater named after the Lensovet Alisa Freindlikh (Wladimir's wife) for many years determined the creative direction of the troupe.

At that time, the director was fond of modern drama, put foreign comedies and turned the view of the audience about the classics. Since the production of the "Threepenny Opera" the theater has acquired an original genre, combining eccentricity, journalism, romance and grotesque. This was the basis of an incredible success lasting 40 years.

Modernity

When in 1999 Vladimirov passed away, VB Pazi took his place. A man of the highest culture, he treated the traditions of the theater very carefully. But he was not afraid to risk and expanded the repertoire with completely unusual, but very interesting productions of Bergman, Nabokov, Berberova. Pazi invited the best eminent directors and young talents, due to which performances always attracted the attention of the viewer.

Since 2011, after 5 difficult years without the main director, the art director of the "Lensovet" was Yu. N. Butusov, who once brought with him Pazi. His performances changed the theater, but remained faithful to the spirit of creativity and energy.