Russian Drama Theater (Ufa): history, repertoire, performance reviews

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

The Russian Drama Theater in the city of Ufa was founded in the second half of the 19th century. His repertoire is extensive, the troupe consists of talented artists. The performances have repeatedly won prizes at festivals and competitions.

Creating a theater

In 1861, the first theater building in the city was opened, this is the year when the Russian Drama Theater (Ufa) was born. The history of the development of the theatrical art of the city began in 1772. There was no building yet, there was just an impromptu stage in the voivode's apartment, on which Polish exiles played a play about Pan Bronislaw. A professional troupe appeared only in 1841, but it did not have its own building. In 1861, a wooden theater building was built, the auditorium was designed for 400 seats. Soon a summer theater was built in the city. In the winter of 1890-1891. the theater received on its stage the Semenov-Samarsky opera troupe, among the choristers of which the seventeen-year-old and still unknown F. Chaliapin performed. Soon both theatrical premises - winter, and then summer - burned down, and in 1894merchant V. A. Videneev built a summer theater with excellent acoustics. The Russian Drama Theater (Ufa), built by Videneev, was one of the best theatrical premises, but, unfortunately, was demolished in 1991.

Soviet period

In 1919, the Soviet government established the Russian Drama Theater (Ufa), the base for which was determined in the Aksakov People's House. Only then its name sounded different - it was the "Ufa State Demonstration Theatre". In honor of the opening, two performances were shown: "King Harlequin" and an apotheosis called "Freedom" (on the occasion of the second anniversary of the revolution).

In the 1920-1930s, the theater did not have its own troupe, it appeared only in 1930, and during this period the actors were invited from other cities and worked temporarily on a contract basis. For 10 years (from 31 to 41 years) about 150 works were played. In the 39th year of the 20th century, the Russian Drama Theater (Ufa) received its building on Gogol Street, in which it lived until the year 82, now there is a philharmonic society. During the war years, the repertoire was patriotic, the actors played not only stationary in their premises, they organized front-line brigades that went to the front line and showed fragments of their performances to the defenders of the Motherland in order to raise their morale. After the war, a new stage in the creative development of the theater began, it received the status of a city theater, but the second half of the 50s was marked by the return of its republican status. New actors and directors joined the troupe. The repertoire has changed, now the focus was ontopics such as human conscience, good and evil, the tragedy of war, understanding the Victory of the Soviet people in World War II. The following performances were especially popular:

• "Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich" based on the work of A. Tolstoy.
• "Forgive me!" - the plot is based on the story of V. Astafiev.
• "Mother Courage and her children" according to Brecht.

Starting from 1970, the creative crisis of the theater lasted for 10 years, since the methodology of art was unstable, there were constant differences in the skill levels of directors and performers. The most famous productions of that period were: “Tomorrow there was a war” by B. Vasiliev, “Family portrait with a stranger” by S. Lobozerov, a collage from the plays of M. Bulgakov, “Echelon” by M. Roshchin, “Suicide” by N. Erdman and others.

In 1981, the theater received the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and in 1982 - a new building, which is located to this day. In 1984, a new chief director appeared at the theater, who later became the artistic director - Honored Art Worker of Russia and the Republic of Bashkortostan M. I. Rabinovich.

Our days

From the end of the 90s and until now, the theater has successfully toured Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Republics. Russian Drama Theater (Ufa) in 1998 received the title of "Academic" for a great contribution to the development of culture and art. December 23, 2005 is a significant date, since that day the Ufa theater has been called the State Academic Russian Drama Theater of the Republic of Bashkortostan.

Repertoire and troupe

The theater troupe consists of 49 talented actors, of which three are Honored Artists of Russia and seven are People's Artists. The repertoire is very diverse.

The Russian Drama Theater (Ufa) offers performances based on both classical works and contemporary authors, as well as performances for children: “Masquerade” by M. Lermontov, “Fathers and Sons” by I. Turgenev, “Humpbacked Horse” P. P. Ershov, "Exhibits" by V. Durnenkov, musicals by Kim Breitburg: "The Blue Cameo" for adults and "The Snow Queen" for children.

About the theater

Today, the Russian Drama Theater (Ufa) is still located at Prospekt Oktyabrya, house No. 79. The audience leaves very warm reviews about the performances, they admire the performances and say that this is the best theater in the city, and the main director M. I. Rabinovich is great and brilliant.