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October 15 a new film «The Memory of Blood» directed by Denis Brodsky will be screened at the Documentary Film Center, Moscow. Before the premiere there will be an artistic meeting with the hero of the film, People's Artist of the USSR, Yuri Solomin.

This is a movie-reminiscence about childhood, parents, teachers, pets, pupils, meetings with spectators as a true, timeless memory of a great human heart...The artistic director of the Maly Theatre, People's Artist of the USSR Yuri Solomin recalls his childhood and youth as he travels to the city, where he was born. These shots are unique and are imbued with the yearning for the past.

October 15, 19:00

Documentary Film Center. 2 Zubovsky Boulevard, building 7.

Tickets can be purchased online.

Renovation for the theatre is always a challenge and a serious test. The Maly Theatre passed it, and twice as fast as planned. Manager of the Maly Theatre Tamara Mikhaylova talks about how to speak with the officials and builders, about the plans for the new season and recent production «Time of Troubles. 1609-1611».

- Tamara Anatolyevna, the reconstruction of your theatre will probably make it in the history of Moscow construction as the only case when all the works were completed ahead of time and the unused money was returned to the budget. This is an unprecedented case and the Minister of Culture recounted it in numerous interviews. How did you succeed to do that?

- We worked according to those documents that were approved by the Glavgosexpertiza, controlled the construction site, did not sign anything if we had doubts and counterchecked everything. Our contractors worked under pressure. Nothing new, in fact, we just took the matter rather seriously.

- And how can a woman overmaster the builders? Do you need any specific superpower to speak the same language with them?

- I do not have any special superpower, I just really wanted to do everything well. I was responsible to Yuri Mefodievich Solomin personally and to our actors. And you have no idea how happy they were when they returned here.

- Do you personally control everything?

- Well, I don’t count every single brick, but I control everything, yes.

- You didn’t open the roof of the Maly Theatre, did you?

- Well, you see, in the theatre there is a belief that this cannot be done, because the souls of those who worked here will fly away. And Yuri Mefodievich set this condition for me: do not open the roof. We had to redo the design documentation to fulfill it.

In fact, this is the first reconstruction in a hundred years. I know that there were others, but they were not done according to conscience, they tinted and smeared something, and we had to clean it all up to bring everything to the image that was in the nineteenth century.

- Are you happy with the result?

- Yes! I love this theatre.

- The Maly Theatre traditionally sells tickets at low prices, is it a principled stand?

- This is the position of Yuri Mefodievich Solomin, with which I, as a financier, disagree. I would raise prices. We have performances that are sold by scalpers at higher rates. If you go online, you will find duplicate websites that resell tickets for «Woe from Wit», say, for 15 thousand rubles. And before the performance there are always scalpers at the entrance. I myself was offered tickets once.

- You have not figured out how to deal with this yet, right? In the Pyotr Fomenko Workshop Theatre, for example, they made an entry. You can pre-register for a performance and buy a ticket at the box office when it is your turn.

- You see, we have already abandoned everything, fwe do not have distributors, we sell tickets exclusively at our ticket offices and online. I do not in any way want to offend the audience, but some of them encourage ticket touting. There are spectators who do not really care about the price. This is is called the law of supply and demand.

- Do you know your viewer? Who is he, what does he look like?

- You know, people come to us who would like to «experience the theatre». And the theatre is in the form in which the people represent it. I do not want to offend any modern theatres, but I am an adherent of the classics. Both me and my husband, and the company where my husband is working.

- I understand that you are talking about the LUKOIL company, which supports the construction of a branch of the Maly Theatre in Kogalym. When do you plan to open it?

- Now I can only tell you the opening is scheduled for March 15th. But you understand that this date can be changed.

For this project, in fact, thanks to LUKOIL company and personally Vagit Yusufovich Alekperov. As a vice-principal of the Mikahil Shchepkin Higher Theatre School, I traveled with students around the cities of Western Siberia, and back then the idea to build a theatre in one of them arose. Vagit Yusufovich went to speak with the President and he encouraged this initiative. The theatre was already built there , and the equipment is very similar to the one we have in the Maly Theatre now. That was our condition - so that we could come and bring our performances.

- How will this theatre work?

- I don't know yet. At the moment we decided that we will go there. We have selected four performances. For now that’s it. We are still trying to figure out how to make that work.

- In one of the interviews you said that theatres do not need to survive, they live normally, and there is enough money allocated for them by the state. This is a rare statement for the theatre director. Everyone says: «We don’t enough money, give us more!»

- Well, we also go to the Ministry and ask money for some extra needs. For example, after the reconstruction, we wanted not only the stage, but also the modern equipment. Therefore, yes, we had to ask, and if our requests are justified, this money is allocated.

- Do you think it would be worth changing the relations between theatres and the state?

- The state needs to promote a clear financial policy, and to be honest with the theatres. And I would advise my colleagues to spend money wisely. It is necessary to understand that money doesn’t grow on trees. I recently read an article, in which one of the theatre directors wrote that «some rent out a stage for 10 thousand rubles, and I went much further and I started renting it out for 50 thousand». And I was genuinely amused. I will not voice the figures of the Maly Theatre’s rent, but this is a very serious help for us, and the money we get goes to awards, to additional performances.

- The Maly Theatre has its own workshops, how does that work?

- The workshops are pretty loaded now. And then they just settled in Nagatino, yet again thanks to the Ministry of Culture. We were given money for new equipment, and we are mastering it. We need to make settings for Kogalym, because we cannot travel with our settings back and forth, and besides, we have big performances ahead.

This season we have a series of anniversaries: «Before the Sunset» by Gerhart Hauptmann starring Boris Klyuev and Lyudmila Polyakova in the lead roles, «Make Way For Tomorrow», «Matchmaker», starring Irina Muravyova and Valeriy Afanasyev, they are also heroes of the day. We are also waiting for the proposal from Adolph Shapiro.

- Now, when the renovation is over, what tasks do you set for yourself?

- Well, the first task is to deal with Kogalym. And then to continue, to attract new audiences and to keep our path.

Tatyana Filippova, KULTUROMANIA, October 11, 2018

Dear guests,

On October 14 «The Cherry Orchard» by Anton Chekhov will replace «The Visit Of The Old Lady».

We apologise for this inconvenience! Tickets are valid.

On October 7 Vasiliy Dakhnenko first appeared on stage as Mr. Purgon in «The Imaginary Invalid» by Moliere. Congratulations to Vasiliy and all the best for his future success.

September, drawing to its close.

(To set it down in paltry prose),

Makes country life so very dull...

We continue the series of chamber performances.

Karina Sakhanenko, Alexander Naumov and Stanislav Soshnikov will perform the comic poem «Count Nulin» in the interiors of the apartment of Prince Sumbatov.

October 27, Saturday, beginning at 18:00

You may find additional information on the theatre's website and by calling + 7-916-879-84-90.

Tickets are sold at the box office and on the website.

18+

On September 30 Stanislav Soshnikov first appeared as English ambassador Richard Lee in Tolstoy's tragedy "Tsar Boris". Congratulations to Stanislav!

Dear friends,

On October 13, the first excursion dedicated to the famous actor and director of the Maly Theatre Alexander Pavlovich Lensky will be held in the Memorial apartment of A.I. Sumbatov-Yuzhin.

When the widow of A.I. Sumbatov-Uzhin - Maria Nikolaevna - bequeathed to the Maly Theatre Yuzhin's archives, located in his apartment in Bolshoy Palashevsky Pereulok, she hoped that a branch of the Maly Theatre would be opened here, in which the exposition would pay attention not only to her husband, but also to his friends and stage partners — wonderful actors of the Maly Theatre — Maria Ermolova and Alexander Lensky. The house-museum of Ermolova wasd opened in her mansion on Tverskoy Boulevard in 1986. The house in which Lensky lived was not preserved (it was located next door to Bolshoy Palashevsky, No. 3, today a new multi-storey residential house is built there).

In 2017, the exhibition dedicated to the 170th anniversary of Alexander Lensky was opened in Sumbatov-Yuzhin's memorial apartment. Today we are offfering a new tour «Alexander Lensky. The past, the present and future in the theatre» that will recount the story of his life and his work.The title of the excursion derives from the words of Lensky himself about his work: «In the theatre I present the past and depict the present, in school I dip into the future.»

The excursion begins at 13:00.

Tickets on sale!

Dear friends,

We are thrilled to officially announce details of the 2019 Season.

The Maly Theatre will present three new productions:

- Gerhart Hauptmann's drama «Before Sunset» that will be staged by Vladimir Beylis. The first reading took place on September 11, the performance will be staged on the Main Stage;

[GALLERY: 423]

- historical drama written by Svyatoslav Rybas «The Tsar. The Coup Détat», directed by Elena Olenina, the first reading took place on September 19.

[GALLERY: 422]

- Viña Delmar's drama «Make Way For Tomorrow» that will be directed by Yuri Solomin. The first reading was on September 26, the production will be staged on the Ordynka stage.

[GALLERY: 424]

Dear guests,

On November 27, the play «The Masquerade»» by Mikhail Lermontov will replace Vladimir Medinsky’s «Time of Troubles. 1609-1611». We apologize for any inconvenience caused. The tickets are valid.

Dear friends,

On November 29 there will be an additional performance of «The Queen of Spades» by Alexander Pushkin on the Main Stage. The show shall start at 19:00. Tickets are on sale!

On September 21 a performance «The Last Sacrifice» by Alexander Ostrovsky, dedicated to the 165th anniversary of the birth of the great Russian actress Maria Nikolayevna Ermolova, took place on the Main Stage of the Maly Theatre.

For the first time Maria Nikolaevna played the role of Yulia Tugina («The Last Sacrifice») in 1877 and kept it in her repertoire for more than 20 years.

On September 21 a very special guest attended the performance - a great-granddaughter of the actress - Maria Varlamova.

The Maly Theatre also dedicated another performance «Talents And Admirers» by Alexander Ostrovsky to the memory of the legendary actress.It was held on September 14.

Dear guests,

We very much regret the cancellation to a performance "Marriage" by Nikolai Gogol on October 25 due to circumstances beyond our control.

The Maly Theatre regrets the inconvenience caused by these unfortunate circumstances.

We kindly ask you to return the tickets to the theatre box office.

If you purchased your tickets online, please contact us @ refund@maly.ru, indicating the order number and number of tickets that have to be returned.

Bookings made directly through the Maly Theatre's website, either by phone or online, will be automatically refunded to the card user within 3 working days. This applies to bookings paid for in their entirety by credit or debit card.

September 20 marks the 130th anniversary of the birth of the brilliant actor and outstanding director, People's Artist of the USSR Konstantin Aleksandrovich Zubov (1888-1956).

Since 1936 Konstantin Zubov was an actor and director, and since 1947 - the chief director of the Maly Theatre. His acting was characterized by intellectual acuity, subtle irony and elegance. He was a true master of the dialogue, who managed to unveil the true essence of the human nature (the role of Tsyganov in «Barbarians», 1941).

Among his best roles were Professor Henry Higgins («Pygmalion» by George Bernard Shaw), Famusov and Repetilov («Woe from Wit»), Rasstegin («On the Neva River» by Trenev), Telyatev («Money To Burn»), Gorodulin («Enough Stupidity in Every Wise Man» by Ostrovsky) and others. As a director Zubov strove for precise, concrete means of expression, which revealed the idea of the play primarily through acting, and were marked by precision and clarity of thought.

From 1920 he was engaged in pedagogical activity, since 1946 Professor of the Theater School. M. Schepkin. The State Prize of the USSR (1946, 1947, 1948, 1951). He was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and medals.

Today we would like to share with you the recording of «A Glass Of Water» by Eugene Scribe, a live and virtuosic performance of the masters of the Maly Theatre. Konstantin Zubov plays Viscount Bolingbroke.

A.I.Sumbatov-Yuzhin's Memorial Apartment opens a new season of chamber performances and creative evening. The new academic year has already started, and we are more than happy to welcome our young viewers together with their parents in the theatre. But besides school program, there are so many fun, educational and inspirational activities to do. And what can be better than a good fairy tale? Only a fairy tale by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin! We are waiting for you on September 29 at the solo performance "The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights". It will be performed by Maly Theatre's actress Varvara Andreeva.

The violin artist Anastasia Makushkina (from the Maly Theatre's orchestra) accompanies the performance.

Address: Bolshoy Palashevsky pereulok, 5/1.
The show shall begin at 16:00.
Tickets are sold online and at the theatre box office

On October 22 (Ordynka stage) there will be an additional performance of «Marriage» by Nikolai Gogol.

The show starts at 19:00.

Tickets are on sale.

Today, on September 17, according to the tradition established by Maria Nikolaevna Sumbatova, we at the Maly Theatre remember Alexander Ivanovich Sumbatov-Yuzhin. On this day, he usually celebrated his birth (having added one day when recounting from the old style, since he was born on September 4, 1857), and on September 17, 1927, he died in France, in the boarding house in Juan-les-Pins.

Yuzhin was an outstanding actor and playwright, and the head of the Maly Theatre, who took over as the head of the Moscow Dramatic Company in 1909, and remained at the head of the theatre during the First World War, during the years of the revolution and civil war.

On August 9, 1909, he delivered a speech to the Maly Theatre's company, in which he addressed in detail the current situation of the Russian theatre and its problems, and formulated his vision for the further development of Maly Theatre and set strict priorities of his future work as head of the company.

Many of his statements can be regarded today as call to action and his theses on the development of world culture have not lost their relevance. His speech was published in «Alexander Ivanovich Sumbatov-Yuzhin. Records. Articles. Letters» (M., 1951) and consists of 28 pages of text! Most likely, his speech lasted for several hours and, as he writes in his diary: «The impression of my speech seems to be deep: they realized that the salvation of both the theatre itself and the company is hard work. The attitude towards me seems to be sincere and confidential.»

We asked the people's artists of Russia Valeriy Afanasyev, Vasiliy Bochkaryov and Alexander Ermakov to read a few fragments from Yuzhin's speech. We invite you to watch the video.

Dear friends,

On September 17 we reminisce about Alexander Ivanovich Sumbatov-Yuzhin, and in accordance with tradition established by his widow, Maria Nikolaevna Sumbatova, we invite you to visit his memorial apartment. It will be open from 12:00 to 18:00, admission is free.

In addition to the main exposition, an exhibition devoted to the outstanding actor, director, designer and a great friend and relative of the Sumbatov family - Alexander Pavlovich Lenskiy, is now open in one of the rooms (the former canteen of the Sumbatov princes).

On September 9 Stanislav Soshnikov first appeared as Dormedont in Alexander Ostrovsky’s play «Late Love». Congratulations to Stanislav on a great next step in his career!

September 7 marks 25 years of service on the Maly Theatre's stage of People's Artist of Russia Irina Muravyova. We sincerely congratulate Irina Vadimovna on her creative jubilee and wish her good health, good mood and many more meetings with the grateful spectator on stage and TV screen!

On the day of the creative jubilee, we invite our viewers to revisit the recording of the play «Wolves and Sheep» by Alexander Ostrovsky, in which Irina Vadimovna brilliantly played the role of Kupavina.

Dear guests,

On September 23 (Sunday, Ordynka Stage) «The Servant of The Two Masters» will be replaced by «Secrets of the Madrid Court».

We apologize for any inconvenience caused!