Bdt history. Bolshoi Drama Theater

In fact, these three milestones mark the most significant periods in the life of the theater, born of the revolution. Since 1920 he has occupied the building of the former Suvorin Theater on the Fontanka. Before the revolution, the St. Petersburg Maly Theater was located here, in which the troupe of the Literary and Artistic Society worked at the turn of the century. Since the main shareholder, unspoken artistic director, as well as its ideologist was the publisher of the newspaper "New Time" A.S. Suvorin, Petersburgers called the theater Suvorin. From time to time, the life of the theater, not rich in artistic events, was illuminated by creative discoveries. So, for the first premiere of the theater was staged by E. Karpov The power of darkness LN Tolstoy, with P. Strepetova as Matryona. The performances with the participation of P. Orlenev, an actor who created a new role of "neurasthenic", became the same major phenomenon. M. Chekhov studied at the school at the theater, accepted after training at the Suvorin Theater and successfully worked in it until entering the Moscow Art Theater in 1912. After the death of K.Yu. G.A. Tovstonogov was appointed T.N. Chkheidze.

THEATER BORN BY THE REVOLUTION

Actually real story RDT starts after October revolution. opened new theater February 15, 1919 performance Don Carlos F. Schiller indoors Great Hall conservatory. The first theater of the Soviet dramatic art was conceived as a theater of heroic repertoire, large-scale images, "great tears and great laughter" (Blok). Born of a heroic era, he had to convey its special greatness. It was supposed to be a theater of "heroic tragedy, romantic drama and high comedy". The main ideological inspirer of the new theater was M. Gorky. In the early years, they were mainly classical plays, which emphasized tyrannical, freedom-loving motives. The troupe received major actors N.F. Monakhov, V.V. Maksimov, for several years moved from the Petrograd State Drama Theater (Akdram) Yu.M. Yuryev, the main romantic premiere of the Alexandrinsky stage. The main director was A.M. Lavrentiev, who staged the following productions: Don Carlos (1919), Othello And King Lear W. Shakespeare (1920). Performances were also staged by N.V. Petrov ( twelfth Night Shakespeare, 1921; Ruy Blas V. Hugo, 1921), B.M. Sushkevich ( Rogues Schiller, 1919), A.M. Benois ( Servant of two masters C. Goldoni and Reluctant healer Moliere, 1921), R.V. Boleslavsky ( Ragged Cloak S. Benelli, 1919). Artists A.N. Benois, M.V. Dobuzhinsky, V.A. Shchuko and composers B.V. Asafiev, Yu.A. stage romanticism. In the early 1920s, German Expressionist dramas appeared in the repertoire of the BDT, which were embodied by K.P. Khokhlov in an urban spirit, in a constructivist design - Gas G. Kaiser (1922, artist Yu.P. Annenkov), Virgin forest E. Toller (1924, artist N.P. Akimov). Aesthetically, these performances adjoined the performance Machine Riot A.N. Tolstoy (reworking of the play by K. Chapek R.U.R.., 1924, artist Annenkov).

Of great importance for the fate of the theater was the involvement of the poet A.A. Blok to the post of chairman of the Directorate of the BDT.

But along with the heroic-romantic productions of Schiller, Shakespeare, as well as experimental works, the theater focused on box office performances, and often staged “lightened” historical melodramas. One of them - The conspiracy of the empress A.M. Tolstoy and P.E. Shchegolev (1925, director Lavrentiev, artist Shchuko) - enjoyed a resounding success.

THEATER IS APPROACHING TO MODERNITY

The most serious performances of that period are associated with the work of K.K. Tversky, who usually worked with the artist M.Z. Levin; among them, the productions of plays by modern authors became important - rebellion(1925) and Fault B.A. Lavreneva (1927), Man with a briefcase A.M. Faiko (1928), City of winds V.M. Kirshon (1929), My friend N.F. Pogodina (1932). From the mid-1920s, Soviet plays began to define the BDT's repertoire. Following the time, the theater for the first time tried to bring Romance closer to reality, to combine heroic pathos with a specific living environment. Strong acting personalities were formed in the theater troupe: O. G. Kaziko, V. T. Kibardina, A. I. Larikov, V. P. Polizeymako, K. V. Skorobogatov, V. Ya.

In the year of production fault, K.S. Stanislavsky during the Leningrad tour of the Moscow Art Theater wrote on a portrait donated by the BDT: “Your theater is one of those few that know that the revolution in art is not only in external form but in the inner essence ... ".

For many actors, participation in Gorky's plays was a turning point. Gorky's plays had significant success Egor Bulychev and others(1932, directors K.K. Tverskoy and V.V. Lutse) and Dostigaev and other(1933, directed by Luce). The name of Gorky was given to the theater not by chance. Departure from the Gorky laws of dramaturgy, which always presupposed clarity of thought, clarity of ideological position, brightness of characters, irreconcilable conflict and special theatricality, almost every time led the theater to failure.

G. A. TOVSTONOGOV COMES TO THE THEATER

After the departure of Tversky, a difficult time came in the theater. Artistic directors often changed: 1934 - V.F. Fedorov, 1936-1937 - A.D. Dikiy, 1939-1940 - B.A. Babochkin, 1940-1944 - L.S. Rudnik. In an atmosphere of aesthetic unpretentiousness, multidirectional searches, only a few performances have become notable events in theatrical art: Philistines Gorky (1937, directed by Wild); summer residents Gorky (1939) and Tsar Potap A.A. Kopkova (1940 - both directed by Babochkin); King Lear Shakespeare (1941, directed by G.M. Kozintsev). In the early years of the great patriotic war the theater worked in Kirov, in 1943 returned to Leningrad and continued to work under the blockade, serving the troops of the Leningrad Front and hospitals.

The creative crisis of the BTC, which emerged as early as the mid-1930s, post-war years worsened. Artistic directors stayed in the theater only for a short time: 1946-1950 - N.S. Rashevskaya, 1951-1952 - I.S. Efremov, 1952-1954 - O.G. Kaziko, 1954-1955 - K.P. Khokhlov. The introduction into the repertoire of numerous thematically relevant, but handicraft, and sometimes frankly false plays, led to a decrease in the artistic level of performances, acting skills, and the loss of the audience. In 1956, G.A. Tovstonogov, who had 25 years of fruitful work experience in various theaters (Tbilisi, Moscow, Leningrad), became the chief director of the theater. His arrival coincided with the "thaw" - the revival public life countries after the XX Congress of the CPSU. In a short time, Tovstonogov brought the theater out of the crisis, turned the dysfunctional troupe into a close-knit team capable of successfully solving the most difficult creative tasks. Decisive in the theatrical policy of the chief director was the renewal of the troupe and the choice of repertoire. To restore the viewer's trust, Tovstonogov begins with unpretentious, but lively and recognizable plays ( Sixth floor A.Geri, When does the acacia bloom? N. Vinnikova). Talented young people are actively involved in these productions, which soon became the basis of the renewed team (K. Lavrov, L. Makarova, T. Doronina, Z. Sharko). They brought to the stage the living breath of truth, open lyrical hearts, genuinely sincere voices of our time. Liberated by the spiritual atmosphere of their time, the young actors, together with the director, approved a new hero - outwardly not at all heroic, but close to everyone in the hall, luminous inner beauty and human talent. Performances of works modern dramaturgy – five evenings(1959, in the center of which is an unusually delicate duet of E. Kopelyan and Z. Sharko), My elder sister(1961 with the brilliant T. Doronina and E. Lebedev) A. M. Volodin, and Irkutsk history A.N. Arbuzova (1960) - went in parallel with the careful work on Russian classics, in which the director heard, first of all, the nerve today. Performances Idiot according to F.M. Dostoevsky (1957 and 1966), Barbarians Gorky (1959), Woe from Wit A.S. Griboedov (1962), Three sisters A.P. Chekhov (1965), Philistines Gorky (1966, State Prize of the USSR, 1970) became major events in the spiritual life of society and determined the leading position of the BDT in the domestic performing arts. Of particular interest was the form of “performance-novel” that has developed in the BDT, which is characterized by the thoroughness and subtlety of the psychological analysis of the behavior of the characters, the enlargement of images, close attention To inner life all actors.

Barbarians A.M. Gorky turned out to be the first performance that turned the recently heterogeneous troupe of the BDT into a powerful and rich sounding ensemble, where the director prepared and ensured the great acting victories of P. Luspekaev-Cherkun, V. Strzhelchik-Tsyganov, V. Polizeymako-Redozubov, O. Kaziko-Bogaevskaya, Z. Sharko-Katya, T. Doronina- Nadezhda, E. Lebedev-Monakhov, her husband.

an event in theater life country has become staging idiot with I. Smoktunovsky in the title role. A performance in which the director's innovative style was especially clearly manifested: elusive in its diversity on the one hand, and outward discreetness on the other. The director creates through the actor, together with the actor, and reveals their individuality often unexpectedly for them (O. Basilashvili, V. Strzhelchik, O. Borisov).

No idea exists for Tovstonogov outside the artist. But the director does not "die in the actor." Critic K. Rudnitsky wrote: "... the director comes to life in the actors, the art of each of the artists reveals one of the many facets of the art of the director himself ...". That's why main job in the theater - work with the author and artist. The main result of the work is the creation of an ensemble of the highest culture, which can solve the most complex creative tasks, achieve stylistic integrity in any performance.

Contact with auditorium in performances BDT is always sharpened. But there were performances where this condition became paramount. This is how the show was staged. Woe from Wit(1964) with the tragic and at the same time eccentric Chatsky-S. Yursky, who was looking for associates in the hall, addressing the audience, with lively youthful spontaneity, hoping for understanding.

Each performance of Tovstonogov has its own way of communicating with the audience, whether horse history(1975) with E. Lebedev as Kholstomer, Chekhov, Gorky or Gogol ( Auditor, 1972), where the director poses the toughest questions to his characters, and therefore to the audience. At the same time, the novelty of reading arises from the depth of the read text, those layers of it that have not yet been seen and studied.

The revolutionary themes of performances are read and comprehended in a new way The death of the squadron A. Korneichuk, An optimistic tragedy V. Vishnevsky, staged repeatedly, in different time, and Rereading M. Shatrova (1980), where a simple person who finds himself in the face of History is examined intently, without false pathos.

The characteristic slow development of Tovstonogov's "performance-novels" ( Barbarians And Philistines; Upturned virgin soil according to M.A. Sholokhov, 1964, etc.) gradually brought actors and spectators to stormy, “explosive”, climaxes.

In the 1970s, the director will continue his theatrical searches, in the field great prose putting on an epic novel Quiet Don with O. Borisov in the role of Grigory - the central figure of the performance, eclipsing all other persons who have lost their scale in this system. The epic performance considered Gregory as tragic hero, who has no personal guilt before the rock of History. The "novel" productions of the director have always been accompanied by such a quality as polyphony.

But the BDT was not alien to a cheerful, mischievous comedy. Viewers of the 1970s will long remember the festive, light-winged Khanuma A. Tsagareli (1972), staged with special lyricism, grace and brilliant acting work by L. Makarova, V. Strzhelchik, N. Trofimov. The experience of a special "Vakhtangov" reading, with his open play in the theater, was successfully mastered by the director in Wolves and sheep A.N.Ostrovsky (1980), the opera-farce by A.N.Kolker sounded like a sharp tragicomic grotesque Death of Tarelkin according to A.V. Sukhovo-Kobylin (1982), which revealed the great potential of BDT actors in the field of open theatricality (acting works by E. Lebedev, V. Kovel, S. Kryuchkova, etc.). The comedy skills of the artists were honed both on the material modern play (energetic people according to V. Shukshin, 1974), and in staging Pickwick Club according to Ch. Dickens, 1978).

In the troupe, in addition to the already mentioned artists, E.A. Popova, M.A. Prizvan-Sokolova, O.V. Volkova, L.I. Malevannaya, Yu.A. Demich, A.Yu. Tolubeev, S.N. .Kryuchkov. In 1983, the BDT troupe was replenished with one more unique master scenes - A.B. Freindlikh, who has played and continues to play the most diverse roles - from three women who are opposite in warehouse in a comedy This passionate lover(N.Simon, 1983) to the tragic images of Lady Macbeth and Nastya ( At the bottom A.M. Gorky, 1987), etc.

THEATER NAMED AFTER G.A.TOVSTONOGOV

After the death of G.A. Tovstonogov in 1989, K.Yu. Lavrov became the artistic director of the BDT. In 1993, the theater was rightfully named after its former chief director, who became a whole theatrical era, not only for his theater, but also for his country.

A valuable contribution to the life of this theater was made by the productions of director T. Chkheidze, which largely coincided with Tovstonogov's requirements for the performance. The depth and scale of T. Chkheidze's director's intention were embodied by him through a carefully selected ensemble of actors. The most interesting of his performances: Deceit and love F. Schiller (1990), Macbeth At . Shakespeare, (1995), Antigone J. Anuya (1996), Boris Godunov A. Pushkin (1998).

In the modern BDT, many performances by G.A. Tovstonogov continue to go on, which are not just preserved, but live a full-blooded life.

In 2007, after the death of K. Lavrov, Temur Chkheidze was appointed artistic director, who had worked with the BDT since 1991, and in 2004 agreed to become the chief director. In February 2013, Chkheidze resigned and stepped down as artistic director.

Ekaterina Yudina

Them. G. A. Tovstonogov will celebrate his centenary in 2019. His current repertoire includes classical plays and works by contemporary authors. The theater is one of the most famous and most popular in Russia.

About the theater

BDT Tovstonogov exists since 1919. It was originally called the Special Drama Troupe. The first performances were shown in the hall of the Conservatory. After some time, the theater found its building. The embankment of the Fontanka River became the location of the legendary BDT. The artistic direction of the new temple of art was entrusted to the famous poet A. A. Blok. The ideological inspirer was Maxim Gorky. The repertoire of that time included works by F. Schiller, W. Shakespeare, V. Hugo. The main task of the BDT was to oppose the nobility, dignity and honor that reigned in the world of cruelty and chaos.

The twenties of the 20th century became difficult for the new theater. First, M. Gorky went to another country, then A. Blok died. The artist A. Benois left the BDT. Left the theater main director A. Lavrentiev. New directors came to the troupe. But no one stayed long. This continued until 1956. The basis of the repertoire at that difficult time was the works of Soviet playwrights.

In 1956, the theater began new life. This happened thanks to the arrival of G. A. Tovstonogov as the chief director and artistic director. He served in the BDT for thirty years. Georgy Alexandrovich created performances that became real events. His productions were distinguished by originality, freshness, novelty and their own view of the work. This man turned the theater, which was among the outsiders, into one of the leaders of the country. Georgy Alexandrovich invited such outstanding actors as T. Doronina, I. Smoktunovsky, V. Strzhelchik, S. Yursky, K. Lavrov, etc. to the troupe. It was the best team in USSR. In 1964 the theater was awarded honorary title"Academic". In 1970, another BDT stage was opened - Malaya.

In May 1989, Georgy Alexandrovich was returning home from a rehearsal of a new performance in his car. He had a heart attack. Great director died right behind the wheel. The death of a genius was a great loss for the theater. The troupe could not recover from the shock. Soon the artists chose a new artistic director. They became K. Yu. Lavrov. The actor tried to continue the traditions laid down by Georgy Alexandrovich. In 1992, the theater was named after G. A. Tovstonogov. Kirill Yuryevich Lavrov served as artistic director until 2007. Then he was replaced by T. Chkheidze. Since 2013, the artistic director of the BDT has been A. A. Moguchiy.

Repertoire

BDT Tovstonogov offers its viewers dramas, comedies, classical works and plays by contemporary authors.

In 2017, the following performances can be seen on its stage:

• "Storm".
• "Summer of one year".
• "Alice".
• "Soldier and Devil".
• "Language of birds".
• "Governor".
• "Human".
• "Visible side of life".
• "House of Bernard Alba".
• "War and Peace of Tolstoy".
• "Mary Stuart" and others.

Troupe

BDT Tovstonogov has long been famous for its artists. The actors here are talented and professional. Many of them have titles and awards. The team consists of up-and-coming young people and famous celebrities who have great experience and known to a wide audience for numerous works in cinema.

Theater troupe:

• Maxim Bravtsov.
• Viktor Knyazhev.
• Leonid Nevedomsky.
• Svetlana Kryuchkova.
• Elena Shvareva.
• Oleg Basilashvili.
• Nina Usatova.
• Sergei Stukalov.
• Alisa Freindlich.
• Georgy Shtil.
• Irute Vengalite and many other artists.

directors

Several stage directors work in the BDT.

Directing team:

• Ludmila Shuvalova.
• Andrey Maksimov.
• Alexander Nikanorov.
• Polina Nevedomskaya.
• Alexander Artemov.

L. Shuvalova and A. Maksimov have been working in the BDT longer than others.

Andrey Nikolaevich was born in 1955. At the age of 30 he graduated from LGITMiK. He began his career in the city of Kemerovo. Then there were Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Omsk, Vilnius. Since 1993, A. Maksimov has served in Tovstonogov's BDT. Over the years creative activity he staged over thirty performances.

L. P. Shuvalova graduated from the theater school in Nizhny Novgorod. She came to work in BDT in 1951. Mine creative way Lyudmila Pavlovna started as an actress. After 20 years of artistic activity, she became an assistant director. And in 1980 - director. L. P. Shuvalova for her great contribution to theatrical art was awarded the orders of II and I degrees "For Merit to the Fatherland".

G. A. Tovstonogov

G. A. Tovstonogov was born in 1915. From childhood, Georgy Aleksandrovich was very fond of the theater. But after graduating from school, at the insistence of his father, he entered the railway institute. After studying there for a short time, the young man realized that he had a different vocation, and left this university. In 1931, G. A. Tovstonogov began working in the Russian Youth Theater in Tbilisi as an actor. Two years later, he entered GITIS to study at the directing department. In 1946 he moved to Moscow, and in 1949 - to St. Petersburg.

Since 1956, Georgy Alexandrovich has been the director of the BDT. Tovstonogov headed this theater at a time when it was on the verge of closing. The team was terrible. Artists were constantly changing. Attendance is low and financial debt is high. Thanks to Georgy Aleksandrovich, the BDT got back on its feet in the shortest possible time. G. Tovstonogov headed the theater for thirty years - until his death. In addition, this brilliant director taught, was a professor, wrote two books, worked on television and radio.

Buying tickets

BDT Tovstonogov, like many other theaters, offers two ways to buy tickets. The first - at the box office, the second - via the Internet. On the official website of the theater in the "Billboard" section, you must select the performance you are interested in and a convenient date. Then you need to decide on a number and a place, the scheme will help you with this auditorium presented in this section of the article.

With the help of a bank card or an electronic wallet, payment is made for the order. Purchased tickets are sent to the buyer's email. They will need to be printed out and presented in paper form at the entrance to the hall. If you want to purchase tickets at one of the ticket offices, then remember their opening hours: from 10:00 to 21:00 - main stage, and from 10:00 to 19:00 hours - Malaya. Break - from 15:00 to 16:00. Students of creative universities can purchase tickets at a discount one hour before the start of the performance and upon presentation of a document confirming the right to the benefit.

Material from the Uncyclopedia

February 15, 1919 in the hall of the Petrograd Conservatory was the first performance of the Bolshoi Drama Theater. In Siena, the cruel tyrant King Philip suffered from loneliness, the noble and brave Marquis of Posa perished, saving the honor of his friend Don Carlos, and the treacherous Duke of Alba plotted. Among the audience were sailors who went straight from the performance to defend Petrograd from the White Guard gangs of Yudenich; rushing into battle, they shouted: "To the Albs!" Such a warm response from the audience had performances of the theater, "born of the revolution", as the Bolshoi Drama Theater is often called. At its cradle stood M. Gorky, who dreamed of a “heroic theater”, a theater that “would revive romanticism, poetically reveal a person”, M. F. Andreeva, a former actress of the Moscow Art Theater, and at that time the commissioner of the Department of Theaters and Spectacles and the poet A. A. Blok, who became the spiritual leader and conscience of the new theater.

The first years of the existence of the BDT are called the block period. Blok developed a program for the theater of tragedy, romantic drama and high comedy, a theater that was supposed to draw "from the great treasury of the old classical and romantic art." He considered the tragedy of F. Schiller (“Don Carlos” and “Robbers”) and W. Shakespeare (“King Lear”, “Othello”) to be consonant with the revolutionary era. Blok urged the artists "not to hide from life, but to look intently into the eyes of what is happening, to listen to the powerful sound of time." The poet was the actual co-director of the first performances of the theater, closely followed the reaction of the workers and Red Army soldiers who first came to the theater, spoke with inspiration introductory remarks to prepare the audience for the correct perception of unfamiliar drama.

From Alexandrinsky Theater(see the Leningrad Academic Drama Theater named after A. S. Pushkin) the actor and director A. N. Lavrentiev, the favorite of the Petrograd public Yu. M. Yuryev, from the cinema - V. V. Maksimov came to the BDT. The talent of N. F. Monakhov was revealed here in a new way, famous artist operetta, comedian and coupletist. In Don Carlos, Monakhov brilliantly played the tragic role of King Philip. The history of the Great Drama Monks will also go down as the unsurpassed Truffaldino, who in this role combined the traditions of the Italian comedy of masks (see Commedia dell'arte) with the Russian farce. The director of "The Servant of Two Masters" K. Goldoni, the artist A. N. Benois, advised the artist not to be afraid to improvise on stage. Subsequently, when the theater turns to the plays of contemporary Soviet authors, Monakhov will powerfully, temperamentally play the partisan leader Ruzaev in "Mutiny" (according to D. A. Furmanov), the sailor Godun in "The Break" by B. A. Lavrenev, Yegor Bulychov in M. Gorky's play "Egor Bulychov and Others".

In 1932, the Bolshoi Drama Theater was named after M. Gorky. The most important productions of the 1930s are connected with the work of one of the founders of the theater. This is the play “Petty Bourgeois” staged by A. D. Diky, “Summer Residents” - B. A. Babochkin, “Egor Bulychov and Others”, “Dostigaev and Others” - K. K. Tverskoy and V. V. Lutse. The BDT celebrated its 30th anniversary in 1949 with the performance Enemies staged by N. S. Rashevskaya, which became a noticeable phenomenon in the theatrical life of post-war Leningrad.

In 1956, the BDT was headed by Georgy Alexandrovich Tovstonogov (1913-1989), and since that time almost every new production theater not only becomes an event in the theatrical life of Leningrad, but also influences the development of all Soviet stage art.

Deep modern content, boldness of staging decisions, a brilliant ensemble - characteristics this theatre. “Polysemy and objectivity,” writes art historian K. L. Rudnitsky, “are the main features of Tovstonogov’s direction. The director's personality is completely dissolved in the performance that he builds and manages. A follower of K. S. Stanislavsky, Tovstonogov also continues in his art the traditions of E. B. Vakhtangov, V. E. Meyerhold and B. Brecht. BDT is famous for its wonderful acting ensemble. The actors of the “old” Bolshoi Drama Theater – V.P. Politseymako, E.Z. Kopelyan, V.I. Strzhelchik, N.A. Olkhina, L.I. Together with the director, S. Yu. Yursky, K. Yu. Lavrov, M. D. Volkov, E. A. Lebedev, E. A. Popova, T. V. Doronina, P. B. Luspekaev, Z. M. Sharko, O. V. Basilashvili, O. I. Borisov, N. N. Trofimov and other actors who determined the manner, style, high acting culture of the BDT.

“Gorky's name obliges,” Tovstonogov said, and indeed, Gorky's plays - "Barbarians", "Petty Bourgeois", "Summer Residents" - were staged at the BDT in a new sharp, fresh, modern way.

“The museum approach to the classics did a lot of harm to the classics themselves and the theaters, scaring away the indifferent spectators with its school conscientiousness,” wrote Tovstonogov; in his work, he is steadily looking for the living in classical heritage. Such a milestone, consonant with the time was the play "The Idiot" based on the staging of the novel by F. M. Dostoevsky with his natural and humane prince Myshkin, played by I. M. Smoktunovsky.

Chatsky Yursky in “Woe from Wit” was also modern, causing audience love and sympathy, he addressed his monologues not to Famusov, not Skalozub, not Molchalin, but to the auditorium.

In "History of the Horse" (staged "Kholstomer" by L. N. Tolstoy), the tragic confession of Kholstomer - Lebedev - struck with its depth, the artist played not only "the history of the horse, but also the fate of man."

Unusually strictly and harshly Tovstonogov analyzes the actions of the heroes of A.P. Chekhov's plays "Three Sisters" and "Uncle Vanya", revealing "his" Chekhov, who differs sharply from famous productions contemporary directors.

Boldly, unexpectedly, in the genre of opera-farce, Tovstonogov staged the play by A. V. Sukhovo-Kobylin "Death of Tarelkin", where leading role played by V. M. Ivchenko. He also plays Glumov in the satirical comedy by A. N. Ostrovsky "Enough simplicity for every wise man."

Theater researchers write about BDT performances as novel performances. Indeed, the theater is close great literature, often refers to dramatizations of works of Soviet prose. The performances “Virgin Soil Upturned” and “ Quiet Don» M. A. Sholokhov, « Deadline" V. G. Rasputin and "Three bags of weed wheat" V. F. Tendryakov. The theater is also true to the heroic theme. In the "Death of the Squadron" by A. E. Korneichuk, "The Optimistic Tragedy" by V. V. Vishnevsky, the traditions of the Bolshoi Drama Theater, born of the revolution, come to life.

In the year of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of V. I. Lenin, the Bolshoi Theater opens its Small Stage with the play "Defender Ulyanov". The best pages of Leniniana formed the dramatic basis of the play “Rereading Again”. The performer of the role of the leader, K. Yu. Lavrov, was awarded the Lenin Prize in 1982.

No less important in the repertoire of the Bolshoi Drama contemporary theme. The theater is persistently looking for its playwrights. Events in theatrical life were "Five Evenings" and "The Elder Sister" by A. M. Volodin, "Ocean" by A. P. Stein, "Irkutsk History" by A. N. Arbuzov, "Traditional Collection" by V. S. Rozov. IN last years appeared on the stage of the theater "Minutes of one meeting" and "We, the undersigned ..." by A. I. Gelman, raising relevant moral issues time.

Among the theater performances of the 80s. - "Wolves and Sheep" by A. N. Ostrovsky, " Pickwick Club"(according to Ch. Dickens), "Energetic people" (according to V. M. Shukshin), "Private" by A. A. Dudarev, "This ardent lover" by W. Simon, etc.

The performances of the theater revealed the talent of S. N. Kryuchkova, E. K. Popova, A. Yu. Tolubeev, G. P. Bogachev, Yu. A. Demich, O. V. Volkova, L. I. Malevannaya, N. Yu Danilova, A. B. Freindlikh.

One of the modern researchers called G. A. Tovstonogov “a collector of Russian theater culture". Under his leadership, the Great Academic Theatre of Drama named after M. Gorky became a kind of standard for the synthesis of directing and acting.

The theater was awarded the Orders of the Red Banner of Labor and the Order of the October Revolution.

The Bolshoi Drama Theater was organized on the initiative of the writer Maxim Gorky, the actress and commissioner of theaters and spectacles Maria Andreeva and the poet Alexander Blok in 1918. The special aesthetics and style of the BDT were formed under the influence of architect Vladimir Shchuko and artists from the World of Art association Alexandra Benois, Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Boris Kustodiev - the first set designers of the theater. repertoire policy the first artistic director, Alexander Blok, defined: "The Bolshoi Drama Theater is, according to its plan, a theater of high drama: high tragedy and high comedy." The ideas of the founders of the BDT were embodied in the works of Andrei Lavrentiev, Boris Babochkin, Grigory Kozintsev, Georgy Tovstonogov - outstanding directors who worked in the theater in different years. The BDT became the most famous stage of the USSR under the direction of Georgy Tovstonogov, who was the main director of the theater from 1956 to 1989.
In 2013 director Andrei Moguchiy, one of the leaders of the modern theatrical avant-garde, became the artistic director of the BDT. For the theater began recent history, filled not only with performances, but also with socially significant projects. Maintaining its credo for over a century, the Bolshoi Drama Theater conducts an open dialogue on topics that excite modern society raising the problems of a man of his time. Every season, BDT performances become laureates of the main theatrical awards of the country, including the national one. theater award"Golden Mask".
At the Bolshoi Drama Theater named after G.A. Tovstonogov three scenes. Main (750 seats) and Small stages (120 seats) are located in historical building on the Fontanka embankment, 65. The second stage of the BDT (300 seats) is located on the square of the Old Theater, 13, in the building of the Kamennoostrovsky Theater. Each season at these three venues there are at least 5 premieres and more than 350 performances, social and educational projects are implemented, exhibitions are held, round tables, concerts lectures by leading figures of contemporary art.

Dear viewers, please note:
The “About the Theater” section on the BDT website is currently being updated and supplemented.

History of the Bolshoi Drama Theater

The Bolshoi Drama Theater opened on February 15, 1919 with the tragedy Don Carlos by F. Schiller, starting its performances in Opera studio Conservatories.

In 1964 he was awarded the title of Academic, in 1970 the Small Stage was opened, since 1992 it has been named after G.A. Tovstonogov.

In the autumn of 1918, the theater commissioner M.F. Andreeva signed a decree on the creation of a Special Drama Troupe in Petrograd - that was the original name of the theater, now famous all over the world under the abbreviation BDT. Its formation was entrusted famous actor N.F. Monakhov, and two theatrical groups became the origins: the Tragedy Theater organized in 1918 under the direction of

Yu.M. Yuryeva and Theater artistic drama, which was headed by A.N. Lavrentiev.

A.A. Blok, who essentially became the first artistic director of the BDT. The main ideological inspirer of the new theater was M. Gorky. He wrote at the time: "The audience needs to show the man he himself - and all of us - have long dreamed of, a man-hero, chivalrously selfless, passionately in love with his idea ... a man of honest deed, a great feat ..." Put forward Maxim Gorky the slogan "Heroic people - heroic theater!" was embodied in the BDT repertoire.

The heroes of W. Shakespeare, F. Schiller, V. Hugo appeared on the stage of the BDT. They asserted the ideas of nobility, opposing honor and dignity to the chaos and cruelty of the surrounding world. In the first years of the life of the BDT essential role artists played in determining its artistic appearance. Each of them: A.N. Benois and M.V. Dobuzhinsky, and monumental architect V.A. Shuko did it in their own way. But it was they who formed the solemn, truly magnificent style of the early BDT.

Offensive new era coincided with difficult and sometimes tragic changes within the theater itself. In 1921 M.F. left Russia for several years. Andreev and M. Gorky, in the same year A.A. Blok, returned to academic theater drama Yu.M. Yuryev, A.N. Benois, left the BDT and became the chief director A.N. Lavrentiev. New directors came to the theater: N.V. Petrov, K.P. Khokhlov, P.K. Weisbrem, K.K. Tverskaya; they brought new artists with them - Yu.P. Annenkova, M.Z. Levina, N.P. Akimova, V.M. Khodasevich, V.V. Dmitriev. Having accepted from A.A. Blok, a symbolic relay race, in 1923 the literary part was headed by A.I. Piotrovsky.

In the new search for the theater, the directing activity of V.E. Meyerhold K.K. Tverskoy (1929-1934). In the mid-twenties, the BDT repertoire was determined primarily by plays contemporary playwrights such as B.A. Lavrenev, A. Faiko, Yu.K. Olesha, N.N. Nikitin, N.A. Zarkhi, V.M. Kirshon, N.F. Pogodin. The troupe is also updated,

A.I. come to the BDT Larikov, V.P. Politseymako, N.P. Korn, L.A. Krovitsky; EAT. Granovskaya, O.G. Casico, V.T. Kibardina, E.V. Alexandrovskaya, A.B. Nikritina.

From the day the theater was founded, directors worked in the BDT: 1919-1921 and 1923-1929 - A.N. Lavrentiev; 1921-1922 - N.V. Petrov; 1929-1934 - K.K. Tverskaya; 1934-1936 - V.F. Fedorov; 1936-1937 - A.D. Wild; 1938-1940 - B.A. Babochkin; 1940-1946 -
L.S. Mine; 1946-1949 - N.S. Rashevskaya; 1950-1952 - I.S. Efremov; 1922-1923 and 1954-1955 - K.L. Khokhlov.

Thirty paces long. Twenty deep. Up - to the height of the curtain. The stage space is not that big. This space could accommodate a modern apartment - it will turn out not so unnaturally spacious. Here you can place a garden. Perhaps a corner of the garden, no more. Here you can create peace. The world of high human passions opposing baseness, the world of deeds and the world of doubts, the world of discoveries and a high system of feelings leading the auditorium.

From the book "Mirror of the Stage"

In early 1956, the Bolshoi Drama Theater was preparing to celebrate its thirty-seventh birthday.

On the very eve of the holiday, the troupe was presented with a new, eleventh in a row, chief director.

Thus, an era began in the BDT, whose name is Georgy Aleksandrovich Tovstonogov.

G.A. Tovstonogov created the theater, which for decades has always been the leader of the domestic theatrical process. The performances created by him: “The Fox and the Grapes” by G. Figueiredo, “The Idiot” by F.M. Dostoevsky, Five Evenings by A. Volodin, Barbarians by M. Gorky, Woe from Wit by A.S. Griboyedov, “Petty bourgeois” by M. Gorky, “Inspector General” by N.V. Gogol, "Three Sisters" by A.P. Chekhov, “Last Summer in Chulimsk” by A. Vampilov, “Energetic People” by V. Shukshin, “Three Bags of Weed Wheat” by V. Tendryakov, “History of a Horse” by L.N. Tolstoy, “There is Enough Simplicity in Every Wise Man” by A. Ostrovsky, “At the Bottom” by M. Gorky ... became events

in the theatrical life not only of Leningrad, but of the whole country, striking with the novelty of interpretation, the originality of the director's view.

Bit by bit, personality to personality, G.A. Tovstonogov assembled an ensemble of unique acting personalities that made up the best drama troupe countries. The roles played on the BDT stage brought fame to I.M. Smoktunovsky, O.I. Borisov, revealed the bright talents of T.V. Doronina, E.A. Lebedeva, S.Yu. Yursky, E.Z. Kopelyan, P.B. Luspekaeva, P.P. Pankova, E.A. Popova,

IN AND. Strzhelchik, V.P. Kovel, V.A. Medvedev, M.V. Danilova, Yu.A. Demich, I.Z. Zabludovsky, N.N. Trofimov, K.Yu. Lavrov,

A.Yu. Tolubeeva, L.I. Malevannaya. A.B. is still playing in the BDT. Freindlikh, O.V. Basilashvili, Z.M. Sharko, V.M. Ivchenko, N.N. Usatova, E.K. Popova, L.V. Nevedomsky, G.P. Bogachev, G.A. Calm.

On May 23, 1989, returning from the theater, Georgy Aleksandrovich Tovstonogov died suddenly at the wheel of his car.

In the days when the theater had not yet recovered from the shock, by secret ballot of the collective, the artistic director of the BDT was unanimously chosen National artist USSR, laureate State Prizes K.Yu. Lavrov.

April 27, 2007 the theater said goodbye to K.Yu. Lavrov. In June, by unanimous decision of the troupe, the artistic director of the Bolshoi Drama Theater named after G.A. Tovstonogov, People's Artist of Russia and Georgia T.N. Chkheidze, who served in this post until March 2013.