Vakhtangov State Academic Theater
Vakhtangov Theater is one of the most popular dramatic theaters in Moscow. It occupies a large, columned building in the center of the iconic Stary Arbat Street. The renowned theater has almost a hundred-year history, and its repertoire is familiar to more than one generation of Muscovites and guests of the capital. Talented actors play classical tragedies, plays by Russian and foreign playwrights and mischievous vaudeville. The theater troupe has gone on tour many times, and it was warmly received on the stages of European countries, in America and China.
Highlights
The history of the theater began with a small studio directed by Yevgeny Bagrationovich Vakhtangov. Literally from the first productions, the theater troupe acquired its own fans. The success of the performances lay in their universality. They were liked by students, Moscow intellectuals and workers. In the middle of the last century, the Vakhtangovs had a reputation as the most elegant and witty actors in the capital.
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Gradually, two main directions were formed in the repertoire of the theater: the light festivity left by Vakhtangov and serious psychological productions. Modern performances of the Vakhtangov Theater, as before, are marked by the atmosphere of studio, and therefore very much liked by the audience.
The theater has its own museum, which is located in one of the mezzanine rooms. Museum expositions tell about Vakhtangov and his students. Here one can see the texts of plays, theater posters, programs, sheet music and photographs of the most famous performances.
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The Vakhtangov Theater box office is open Monday through Sunday from 12 noon to 8 p.m.
.History of the Vakhtangov Theater
The history of the Vakhtangov Theater began in 1921 with the performance “The Miracle of St. Anthony”, which was noticed and positively evaluated by theater critics. The director and head of the new troupe was the famous actor Yevgeny Bagrationovich Vakhtangov. For the first five years the theater was called the third studio of the Moscow Art Academic Theater, and since 1926 the young theater was named after Vakhtangov.
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In the pre-war period, the theater staged many plays with revolutionary content. At the same time, its repertoire included a production based on the fairy tale “The Princess Turandot” by Italian writer Carlo Gozzi, which later turned into a real brand of the theater company. The authors who wrote plays for Vakhtangov Theater performances were Mikhail Bulgakov and Yuri Olesha. And Ruben Nikolaevich Simonov became its director in 1939.
.When the Great Patriotic War began, the theater building immediately suffered from bombing and became unsuitable for performances. In the fall of 1941, the theater troupe evacuated to Omsk, and began to play on the stage of the Omsk Drama Theater. In addition, a front brigade of actors was formed, who performed on the front lines. The actors returned to Moscow only in June 1945..Repertoire of the Vakhtangov Theater
From the generation that came to the Vakhtangov Theatre in the post-war years, the actors Vasily Lanovoi and Vladimir Etush, beloved by the audience, continue to play in contemporary productions.
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In the repertoire of the theater remain in demand classic plays “Eugene Onegin”, “Masquerade”, “Run”, “Besy”, “Anna Karenina” “Mad Day or The Marriage of Figaro” and “Uncle Vanya”. No less popular with the guests of the Vakhtangov Theater are the productions “Another Man’s Wife and Husband Under the Bed”, “Men and Women”, “Jealous of Myself”, “Medea”, “The Lobster Scream”, “Uncle’s Dream”, “In Paris” and “Games of the Lonely”. In addition, there are many creative evenings of favorite actors on the theater’s stage and in its art café.
.How to get there
The Vakhtangov Theater is located in the historical center of Moscow, on the pedestrian street Stary Arbat, 26. The building can be reached on foot from Smolenskaya (0.7 km) and Arbatskaya (0.9 km) metro stations.
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