The history of the Moscow Drama Theatre named after the great Russian writer began in 1914. The renowned director and actor Alexander Tairov was looking for suitable premises for his theatre — he settled on a mansion in the city centre. Here, on Tverskoy Boulevard, Tairov opened the Chamber Theatre. Its repertoire included classical tragedies, Shakespearean plays, operettas, and modern productions. The theater has gone on tour abroad more than once—to Europe and South America. The «Kamerny» theater survived the revolution and two wars. It was closed in 1949 for «aestheticism and formalism”—the theater’s activities turned out to be incompatible with the principles of socialist realism.
In 1950, after a major renovation, a new theater venue opened in place of the «Kamerny» theater, with a new name—the Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin Theater. Part of the former team remained in the renamed theatre. The new artistic director, Vasily Vanin, put together a repertoire that included productions based on works by Russian classics and Soviet authors. The first premiere of the drama theatre was a play about the childhood of Joseph Stalin. And «The Little Scarlet Flower,» which was presented to the public in the year of the theatre’s opening, remains part of the repertoire of the Pushkin Theatre to this day.
Subsequent artistic directors, in one way or another, adhered to the principles established by Vanin. It was only in the late 1980s that artistic director Yuri Eremin decided to take on experiments: he staged works by Camus and Strindberg and took the play «Ward No. 6» to European theatre festivals. Roman Kozak, who took over the theatre in 2001, and later Evgeny Pisarev, focused on bringing in guest directors: the Englishman Declan Donnellan worked at the Pushkin Drama Theatre, the provocative and vibrant Yuri Butusov staged Brecht, and Alexey Frandetti directed the American Peter Ekstrom’s musical «O. Henry’s Christmas.»
At various times, such legendary actors as Vladimir Vysotsky, Faina Ranevskaya, and others performed on the theatre’s stage. Currently, the Pushkin Theatre also works with well‑known actors: Vera Alentova, Boris Dyachenko, Viktoria Isakova take part in the performances…
The theatre’s current programme includes both classical and modern productions, as well as chamber experiments. You can get acquainted with the theatre’s repertoire and read the descriptions of the productions on the Yandex Afisha website. Most of the performances are held on the main stage, but the theatre has another venue located not far from the main building — performances are also held there. The Branch Hall is designed for a small audience — it can accommodate no more than 100 people. Tickets for the performances you like can also be purchased on the Yandex Afisha website.
