Academic theater of the Russian Army: hall layout, repertoire, reviews

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Moscow is full of unique attractions, each of which is worthy of a separate enthusiastic story. The Theater of the Russian Army is one of a kind in many respects. Nowhere in the world is there a theater of such rank that would be inextricably linked with the army.

This is not an army band or a themed band, this is one of the great venues of its kind in the world. Its status is peculiar: it is a departmental theater of the Armed Forces, and many actors on its stage served in the full sense of the word. Before the war, the system of the USSR Ministry of Defense had several such theaters belonging to certain regions of Russia, they were called theaters of the Red Army.

Unique army - unique theater

The theater of the Russian Army, the hall in which the large stage is located (some compare it to a football field), is the largest in the capital. The theater building is one of a kind. And it's not just that the scenemulti-storey building is the largest in Europe, the very shape of this structure is unique: the building at the base is a star. The scheme of the hall of the theater of the Russian Army is placed further in the article. The magnificent building is located in such a way that all five beams are directed to some significant places - the center of the capital, Komsomolskaya Square and the three largest transport hubs - Savelovsky, Rizhsky and Belorussky stations. And of course, the unique building is surrounded by legends. One of them says that the German bombers really wanted to bomb the star, as they would say now, visible from space.

Birth of theater

The Theater of the Russian Army (or rather, its troupe) was formed in 1929 from amateur army groups, gradually diluted with professional actors and directors. The date of birth of TsATRA is February 6, 1930. On this day, the play “K. V. Zh. D.” was staged.

Maybe because already in 1930 Yury Alexandrovich Zavadsky became the artistic director of the theater with the light hand of director Vladimir Meskheteli, the theater gained a reputation as a highly professional institution. The best stage director and director at that time picked up a talented troupe and a wonderful repertoire. The theater of the Russian Army (then the Red Army) is quickly becoming a favorite place for Muscovites and guests of the capital.

Skillful leadership

This institution has always been lucky with artistic directors, thanks to which the level of stageproductions, set by Zavadsky, were never omitted, and the performances, surprising and shocking the audience, became legends, based on which, given their popularity, films were made, for example, “The Dance Teacher” with the legendary Vladimir Zeldin. And the 3D musical "Pola Negri", which opens the 85th season, isn't it worthy of surprise and praise?

In the history of the theater there were few artistic directors. After Zavadsky, the eminent Alexei Popov became the artistic director (the brightest director and artistic director, according to theater critics). Then - no less titled and popularly beloved Andrei Popov. After his death, his student Boris Afanasyevich Morozov became the artistic director, and he is still in charge. The theater of the Russian Army has always been famous for its troupe, one can list the stars of the first magnitude for many years who served in TsATRA for many years. In 1975, this theater was awarded the title of academic (the second letter in the abbreviation).

One of a kind building

But, as noted above, this theater is also famous for its building. It is located in the center of Moscow, on a very spacious square, which is called Suvorovskaya (formerly the Commune Square, even earlier - Ekaterininskaya, the nearest metro station is Dostoevskaya).

The monument to Suvorov organically looks against the backdrop of the grandiose building of TsATRA, which is the dominant feature of the entire district. The one-of-a-kind example of the Stalinist Empire style (the official name is Soviet monumental classicism) was built from 1934 to 1940 according to the design of architects K. S. Alabyan and V. N. Simbirtsev, who were given a more than ambitious task: the building was supposed to symbolize the power of the Red Army. And the star-shaped building (the scheme of the theater of the Russian Army is given above) met these requirements like nothing else. In one of the articles, the TsATRA building is called the perimeter - from the Greek “surrounded by columns”, which really decorate the facade very much, give it the desired monumentality.

Giantism inherent in the Stalinist Empire style

It's no wonder that actions with the participation of cavalry (the play "The First Cavalry" by Vsevolod Vishnevsky) and even tanks can be played out on the stages of the theater. The building has 10 above-ground (six of which are occupied by stages, in particular 4 floors - a large stage and two - a small one) and the same number of underground floors. The room with a large stage can accommodate up to 1.5 thousand people. The scheme of the hall of the theater of the Russian army gives an idea of its size. The balcony of the great hall, like the amphitheater, is divided into five sectors. The exact number of seats is 1520 (initially there were 2100). It is well known to millions of TV viewers, since the teams of the major league of KVN performed here for 10 years - from 2002 to 2012.

Cozy hall of the small stage

The room with a small stage is designed for only 400 seats. Chamber or experimental performances are staged here. In addition, the Children's Theater Studio of Natalia Aristova performs its performances on the small stage. There were such performances as "Kovalev from the provinces", A. A. Popov staged Kafka here. And when the big stage was reconstructed, the performances continued to be staged on the small one. Scrollproductions performed on these two stages can make up a whole brochure, and reviews and responses to performances can make up a whole book.

Various repertoire

It is not difficult to assume that the theatre's repertoire has always, over the course of 70 years of its existence, included performances related to military themes. They sang the valor of the Russian Army at all times. For many years, the heroic musical comedy by F. Gladkov “A long time ago” did not leave the stage. It was revived in 2005 and ended the 77th season with it.

The performances based on the plays by A. N. Ostrovsky have never left the stage of this theater. Now they are showing Wolves and Sheep. In 2015, the Academic Theater of the Russian Army will celebrate its 85th anniversary with a gala concert to be held on the big stage on the Day of Russia. The repertoire of the theater is not alien to the performances of foreign authors (the already mentioned musical “Pola Negri”), large historical productions: now Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich is on the big stage. For children, "Aibolit" was staged on the small stage.

Good theater - good reviews

The Theater of the Russian Army has the most enthusiastic reviews. People are fascinated by everything: the grandiose architecture, the elegant decoration of the foyer, where you can take part in a photo session and even drink a glass of champagne offered at the entrance. I especially like the performances, in particular the ones listed above.

The overwhelming majority of reviews are positive, but it would be funny if there was not that fly in the ointment thatruin a barrel of honey. Opinions should differ: some are shocked by the performance, while others expected more. Negative responses, which are few, ultimately force the theater staff to eliminate shortcomings and hone their skills.