Kamennoostrovsky Theatre. Bolshoy Drama Theatre. G.A. Tovstonogov

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

The Kamennoostrovsky Theatre, which since 2005 has been the second or small stage of the famous BDT, the only wooden theater in Russia.

One of the oldest theaters in the Soviet Union, which opened in 1919 with a production of Schiller's Don Carlos, has long needed a second venue. But the gift turned out to be royal. Because, firstly, the theater was built on the direct orders of Nicholas I, and secondly, the Kamennoostrovsky Theater became an architectural monument of Russian classicism, and its most beautiful example.

New stage

Working in such an ancient temple of the arts is worth a lot. In a word, the new stage fits perfectly into the stage complex of the BDT, the theater known under this abbreviation to the whole world. But for theatergoers, the desired visit to the new stage was pushed back by 7 years. And only in 2012 the small stage of the Bolshoi Theater was opened with the famous play “The Innkeeper” by Carlo Goldoni.

SovietTV viewers were very familiar with this play with the participation of the wonderful theatrical couple O. Wikland and M. Nazvanov. On the second stage, the main productions were in general, since the building on the Fontanka was closed for repairs.

Summer theater

What is the Kamennoostrovsky theater? The project of a summer theater for the aristocracy, who chose the island for suburban estates, arose as early as 1826. This was facilitated by the fact that the main opera and ballet stage on Theater Square was closed for a long renovation. The specific decision to build a building on Kamenny Island was made by the Directorate of the Imperial Theaters in 1827. There are legends that the building was erected in 40 days. During this time, it was only assembled from previously prepared structures. The author of the project and the work manager was the architect Smaragd Shustov.

Theater architecture

The current small stage of the BDT was a beautiful elegant wooden building, designed to look like a stone one. The Corinthian portico, traditional for theaters, had 8 white columns that supported a triangular pediment with a lyre. The perfectly calculated proportions of the hall allowed the audience, located at any point in it, to see and hear well everything that was happening on the stage, which itself was unusually large, which made it possible to stage any performances on it. The hall was decorated in blue tones - velvet armchairs of the stalls and the sides of the boxes, the benches of the 3rd tier were upholstered with woolen fabric of the same color, the upper ones were upholstered with canvas. The ceiling was decorated with flowers, the boxes - with arabesques (painter A. Shiryaev). Separate words deserve the floor of the hall, leavingdown to the stage. But when necessary (meetings, balls, masquerades), it was leveled with lifting beams.

Features and further fate of the building

It should be noted that the back of the stage moved apart, and the plays were played against the backdrop of natural scenery. The Kamennoostrovsky Theater had a stalls, three tiers of boxes, a balcony and a gallery for the public to walk during intermissions. The hall was designed for 800 seats. Initially, a beautiful park was laid out around the theater, which was a masterpiece of landscape gardening art (master D. Bush). In 1843, the architect A. K. Kavos, on behalf of Nicholas I, developed and carried out the reconstruction of a dilapidated building - he completely dismantled the wooden structure, and then assembled it, strictly adhering to the original parameters.

After the reconstruction, in addition to the operettas, which were incredibly popular (the performances were translated from the Alexandrinsky Theater), serious plays were staged on the stage of the theater. In 1882, the theater, located at 10 Krestovka Embankment, was closed and turned into a scenery warehouse.

Guarded by fate

The Revolution and the Civil War completely changed the face of the once aristocratic district - many buildings were destroyed, some were demolished by the new government. But the theater building survived. It was so good and so fit into the once luxurious park that the new reformers left the building, adapting it to the rides. The war also bypassed the theater side. Subsequent reconstructions adapted the building either for a cinema or for the needs of television. After a certainAt the time, the building was owned by the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company "Petersburg - Channel Five", it housed a club for sports and ballroom dancing.

A worthy gift

And in 2005, Vladimir Putin handed over the old unique building to the BDT. The Kamennoostrovsky theater becomes its small stage. Its new life began with a fundamental reconstruction, which was carried out so successfully that at the specialized exhibition Denkmal-2010 it was awarded the Gold Medal "For outstanding achievements in the field of restoration." The Tovstonogov Theater, of which Kamennoostrovsky has now become a part, is known, without exaggeration, all over the world.

Favorite always

It received its current name in 1997 in honor of the great G. A. Tovstonogov, who directed the theater from 1956 to 1989, the year of his death. "The era of Tovstonogov" brought the theater to the top of the country's theatrical life for many years. The artistic director assembled one of the best troupes. The performances were always sold out, the prime ministers were expected, they became an event in the cultural life of the country.

They have always impressed with the freshness of the director's look and originality of interpretation. According to one of the subsequent chief directors that the Tovstonogovs are born extremely rarely, it can be judged that the theater does not reach the heights of that era. But the Bolshoi Theater remains a favorite theater not only for the residents of the Northern capital, and there are still no tickets for performances with Alisa Freindlich. For two years now, a new artistic director, A. A. Moguchiy, has been at the head of the BDT.