Volkovsky theater poster for September. 19th century

Fyodor Volkov Theater

In 1750, the first professional public theater in Russia was opened in Yaroslavl. The first professional actor, stage director, set designer and playwright was Fyodor Grigorievich Volkov. He was born in 1729 in Kostroma, studied in Yaroslavl, Moscow and St. Petersburg. In the capital, he visited an Italian theater and decided to organize his own theater company.

The birth of the Russian drama theater

In 1748 F.G. Volkov returned to Yaroslavl, recruited here the first drama troupe from among the employees of the Yaroslavl Chancellery and the townspeople and began rehearsals. It is believed that the first performances were staged in an old leather barn, but already in 1750 the troupe moved to a building on the banks of the Volga and opened its first season with the play “Esther” by J. Racine. In 1751, rumors about the theatrical activities of F.G. Volkov reached Petersburg, and the very next year Empress Elizaveta Petrovna summoned the troupe of F.G. Volkov to the capital.

The repertoire of the first Russian theater included the spiritual dramas of Metropolitan Dmitry of Rostov, the tragedies of J. Racine, A.P. Sumarokov, comedies by J.-B. Moliere. After F.G. Volkov's theatrical life in Yaroslavl did not end, as one might expect. In the 70s-80s of the 18th century, amateur performances were staged in the house of the governor A.P. Melgunov, who patronized culture and art. The successor and follower of F.G. Volkova I.A. Dmitrevsky.

At the beginning of the 19th century, performances became regular, a professional theatrical troupe was formed, headed by the Yaroslavl landowner Prince Urusov. At this time, performances were staged in the house of the merchant Sorokin, specially rebuilt and expanded for this. In 1818-1819, a building was built specifically for the theater. It was made of wood on a stone foundation; unfortunately, it has not survived to this day. It was demolished already in the late 1830s. On this site in 1841 a new stone theater was built at the expense of the merchant M.Ya. Alekseeva. It was designed for more than 200 seats.

In 1881, the theater building was rebuilt again, expanding it to six hundred seats in the auditorium, but already at the beginning of the 20th century, this was not enough. The modern building of the Yaroslavl Theater named after F.G. Volkov was built in 1911 according to the project of the young architect N.A. Spirina. It accommodates over a thousand spectators.

Volkov Theater building

The theater building was built in a classical style with Art Nouveau elements. The main facade is visually divided into two tiers. The lower tier is decorated with decorative brickwork, and the upper tier is decorated with a white-column portico with a wide carved cornice, on which a sculptural group is installed, which includes the patron of the arts Apollo Kifared, the muse of Melpomene's tragedy, and the muse of the comedy Thalia. There are sculptural compositions on the main and side facades.

The interiors were very modestly decorated. Only the barriers of the boxes and balconies were decorated with mahogany, the main staircase was covered with marble, the concrete front doors were covered with marble tiles. The auditorium was decorated with a picturesque frieze "Triumph of Dionysus" by artists N. Verkhoturov and V. Saken on the theme of the ancient Greek mysteries. According to the original plan, next to the foyer there was a billiard room decorated with a large mirror.

In the year of the completion of construction, the theater was named after its founder, an outstanding actor and director, Fyodor Grigorievich Volkov. The building even had a special plaque commemorating this event. During the 20th century, the theater was repaired several times. By 1964, the building was completely dilapidated, and it was rebuilt, expanded, made higher. The hall and the foyer have changed, the billiard room has disappeared, but the restorers have kept the external appearance almost unchanged, including the sculptural friezes based on N.A. Sirina, decorating the facades of the building.

Professional troupe

The first professional actors of the Yaroslavl Theater left together with F.G. Volkov to Petersburg, but their place was taken by others, no less talented. The successor to the case of F.G. Volkov in Yaroslavl became I.A. Dmitrevsky, and after him - Katerina Semenova and Alexey Yakovlev. In the 40s of the XIX century, L.P. Kositskaya, the best performer of the role of Katerina in the play by A.N. Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm". In the mid-60s, P.A. Strepetova, which quickly became popular and beloved by the audience.

In the 1850s, the great Russian actor M.S. Shchepkin. He was the first to make a proposal to erect a monument to F.G. Volkov. In the second half of the 90s, the talent of I.M. Moskvin. The future great Russian opera singer L.V. Sobinov.

In the XX century, the activities of the Yaroslavl Theater named after F.G. Volkova was associated with the names of the directors I.A. Rostovtsev, who staged "The Bourgeois" and "The Old Man" by M. Gorky and "The Seagull" by A.P. Chekhov; T. Kondrasheva ("Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich" by A.K. Tolstoy, "Noble's Nest" by I.S. ... From 1996 to 2006 the chief director of the theater was V. Bogolepov. Among the famous actors of the Yaroslavl Theater, one can name S.D. Romodanova, A.D. Chudinov, GA. Belov, V.S. Nelsky, K.G. Nezvanov, N.I. Terentyev, S.K. Tikhonova, F.I. Razdyakonova, N.V. Kuzmina, V.A. Solopova, V.V. Sergeev and many others.

At present, the repertoire of the Yaroslavl Theater includes more than 20 performances based on the works of N.V. Gogol, A.P. Chekhov, A.N. Ostrovsky, F.M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy, D. Boccaccio, R. Sheridan, B. Brecht, F. Sagan, A. Vampilov, O. Zagradnik, N. Ptushkina, V. Sigarev, S. Mrozhek. Yaroslavl annually hosts the International Volkov Festival, to which provincial theaters bring their best performances. And the troupe of the Volkovsky Theater has repeatedly gone on tour to different cities of Russia and neighboring countries.

The theater on the banks of the Volga owes its birth to the actor and director Fyodor Grigorievich Volkov, who at that time was only 21 years old. On June 29, 1750, near a large stone barn, where the merchant Polushkin used to store his leather goods, Polushkin's stepson Fyodor Volkov and his comrades gave their first performance. The repertoire of the theater of Fyodor Volkov included plays by Dmitry Rostovsky, the tragedies of Lomonosov and Sumarokov, as well as satirical performances by Volkov himself - "Shemyakin Court", "Amusement of Moscow Spectators about Shrovetide", "Every Eremey Mind About Himself". The first tour of the theater was a trip to St. Petersburg at the invitation of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.
Volkov created new theatrical forms, being the director of the "national show", the Masquerade "Triumphant Minerva", arranged in Moscow in honor of the coronation of Catherine II. He established the performing arts as a school of civic feelings, connected it with the problems of the era. Volkov's striving to democratize the theater and make it accessible to all was extremely important for the further development of the national stage.
Volkov's traditions were further developed by Ivan Dmitrevsky, Volkov's associate, who was destined to go from a writer of the Yaroslavl provincial chancellery to an academician. Volkov's work was continued by Dmitrevsky's students, the great Russian tragedians Katerina Semenova and Alexei Yakovlev, followed by Pavel Mochalov and Mikhail Schepkin, new generations of Russian theater masters.
In the first half of the 19th century, the best actors of the Volkovsky theater troupe asserted a new stage truth, in their work, in contrast to the routine manner of acting, a bright realistic beginning was ripening.

A major event in the life of Yaroslavl was the tour of the largest Russian actors, masters of theatrical art V.P.Samoilov, V.I. Zhivokini - representatives of the Sadovsky dynasty. G. N. Fedotova, A. E. Martynov, F. P. Gorev, V. V. Charsky, K. N. Poltavtsev, P. M. Medvedev, N. Kh. Rybakov, famous negro tragedian Ira Aldridge, brothers Adelheim, M.V. Dalsky, P.N. Orlenev, M.N.Ermolova, V.F.Komissarzhevskaya, K.A. , singer N. V. Plevitskaya, A. D. Vyaltseva, Varya Panina. In the 1890s K.S. Stanislavsky performed here several times
The 1899-1900 season was marked by preparations for the jubilee and the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Russian national theater. The best forces of the imperial - Petersburg and Moscow Maly - theaters were invited to the anniversary Volkov celebrations in 1900. Celebrations in Yaroslavl in honor of the birth of the First Russian Theater have become a holiday throughout Russia.
In 1909, a competition was announced for the best design for the building of a new city theater, the old building was dilapidated, and the Duma decided to build a new theater with a capacity of more than 1000 spectators. The first prize in this competition was awarded to the architect N. A. Spirin (1882 - 1938).
In 1911, the new theater building was inaugurated with a huge crowd of people.
At the opening of the theater, a welcoming telegram from KS Stanislavsky was read: “Please accept my heartfelt gratitude for the invitation and memory ... I sincerely wish that a nice young business was born and flourished in the homeland of the founder of the Russian theater. Please accept your congratulations and pass on to the participants in the case. Stanislavsky ".
In the same year, the theater was named after Fyodor Grigorievich Volkov.
For two years (1914 - 1916) a young, but already well-known in Russia director I.A.Rostovtsev kept an entreprise in the theater.
A.P. Chekhov, attention to Russian classical drama.
In the first years of Soviet power, the Yaroslavl theater was named the "Soviet named after Volkov theater".
In the second half of the 30s, the troupe of the Volkovsky theater united into a wonderful, strict and harmonious ensemble of stage masters, who for many decades determined the creative face of the theater. These are S. Romodanov, A. Chudinova, A. Magnitskaya, V. Sokolov, S. Komissarov, V. Politimsky, G. Svobodin. The repertoire of the 1930s is represented by Russian classics, primarily by Ostrovsky's drama (The Thunderstorm, The Dowry, Guilty Without Guilt, The Last Victim).
During the Great Patriotic War, many Volkovites went to the front, standing up with weapons in their hands to defend the Motherland. Among them are actors Valerian Sokolov, Vladimir Mitrofanov, Dmitry Aborkin, Vladimir Mosyagin, decorator and later actor Konstantin Lisitsyn, awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, actress who became a front-line intelligence officer, Sofya Avericheva, actress Maria Rypnevskaya, artistic director of the theater David Mansky. The young director Semyon Orshansky came to the theater in 1940. He made his debut with the play "Hot Heart"
A. N. Ostrovsky, managed to stage "The guy from our city", "The Gadfly". In 1942 he was killed in the battles for Stalingrad.
Beginning in the 50s, the theater entered a period of true flourishing. The best stage masters - People's Artists of the USSR and RSFSR, laureates of State Prizes Grigory Belov, Valery Nelsky, Sergey Romodanov, Alexandra Chudinova, Klara Nezvanova - carry a considerable charge of the old Russian classical theater culture in their work. The performances of the Volkovsky Theater are marked by the unity and integrity of the handwriting.
From 1960 to 1978, the theater was managed by an outstanding figure of Soviet theatrical art, People's Artist of the USSR, laureate of State Prizes Firs Shishigin. A significant stage in the history of the Volkovo stage is associated with the name of Shishigin, who headed the theater for almost two decades.
In the early 60s, the energetic director Viktor Davydov, captivating with his performances, worked on the Volkovsk stage.
Next to the elders of the Volkovskaya stage - G. Belov, V. Nelsky, A. Chudinova, G. Svobodin, K. Nezvanova, S. Romodanov, the talent and talents of the new generation of Volkovskaya stage masters - Nikolai Kuzmin, Yuri Karaev, Vladimir Solopov, Natalia Terentyeva, Sergei Tikhonov, Felix Razdyakonov.
At the turn of the 70s - 80s, the traditions of the Russian stage school were continued by Vladimir Kuzmin, who headed the theater. The Barbarians and The Fake Coin by M. Gorky were resolved in a timely and psychologically rich manner. V. Yezhov's "Nightingale's Night" was marked with romantic inspiration and excited lyricism; Ch. Aitmatov's "Mother's Field" conquered with its epic breadth.
From 1983 to 1987, the theater was directed by director Gleb Drozdov.
For the first time, a theater director so openly declares his intention to abandon the old traditions, justifying this by the need to free himself from "academicism" and conservative ways of stage existence. For the first time, the theater breaks away so sharply from its origins, from its roots, from its core. Drozdov defends the theater of spectacle and performance, guessing the coming element of the market and the commercialization of entertainment enterprises.
In the early 90s, the theater was headed by director Vladimir Vorontsov, who foresaw and reflected in his work the rhythms of a catastrophic time. His undoubted successes include the acute psychological production of "Professor Storitsyn" by L. Andreev, the spectacular arena "Corsicana" by I. Gubach, the poetic confessionality of "Vie Carré" by T. Williams.
The social changes that led to the collapse of the USSR and subsequent events undoubtedly affected the sharp attempts to reform the theater and the state of the collective, which experienced many shocks during this period.
Since 1996, Vladimir Bogolepov, a thoughtful artist who in the past studied with the famous Volkov's "old men", has become the main director of the theater, honoring the historical traditions and artistic achievements of the theater. The theater is heading towards Russian and world classical drama.
In 1997, with the play "The Child Killer" by F. Gorenstein, the theater was invited to Prague, to the stage of the National Theater "Narodny Divadlo". In May - June 1998, with the support of the Russian cultural centers, the theater conducted a tour of the European cities - Paris, Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, Berlin with performances of "Thomas" by Dostoevsky and "Platonov" by Chekhov. The tour had a great artistic resonance and contributed to the establishment of new creative ties of the theater. In 1999, a new tour of the theater took place in Northern Europe - the theater presented its art in Finland, Denmark and Norway.

Drama theater. Fedora Volkova (Yaroslavl, Russia) - repertoire, ticket prices, address, phone numbers, official website.

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The Russian State Academic Drama Theater named after Fyodor Volkov has reason to be considered the country's first professional theater: it was founded in 1750 by the merchant's son F. Volkov. At that time, the theater, however, was an amateur troupe, playing their performances in an old barn. Nevertheless, Volkov's successes in creating a professional theater were so noticeable that Empress Elizabeth even invited him to St. Petersburg for a similar work. Already in the 19th century. the theater in Yaroslavl has become one of the best in the country.

Today the theater, which bears the unofficial name "The First Russian", occupies a building built in 1911 by the architect N. Spirin. This is the third building on the theater square in Yaroslavl, later renamed in honor of the founder of the theater. The facade, portico and walls of the building are decorated with sculptures, including figures from ancient mythology associated with art. In the interior of the auditorium, you can admire the painting "The Triumph of Dionysus" on the frieze, made by N. Verkhoturov.

Nowadays, the theater hosts events of a federal and national scale - in particular, the International Volkovsky Festival, which is one of the top 5 theater forums in Russia.

Nowadays, the theater is staging classics and avant-garde, holding events of federal and national scale - in particular, the International Volkovsky Festival, which is one of the top 5 theater forums in Russia. The youth festival "The Future of theatrical Russia" is also held here.

The latest innovation in the Volkov Theater is a separate project based on the chamber stage. Center them. K. Trepleva is devoted primarily to contemporary and experimental drama.

Already in modern times, actors and performances have brought the theater a total of four Golden Mask awards.

In the 1930s. a theater museum was opened. Its first exhibits were photographs, posters and programs. Subsequently, the city art gallery donated its entire collection of materials related to the theatrical history of Yaroslavl to the museum. Currently, about 15 thousand exhibits are kept in the museum's funds. The most valuable of them are photographs from the 1890s. and glass negatives of the 1930-1950s. Also interesting are sketches of scenery, manuscripts of plays, theatrical costumes, etc.

Practical information

Address: pl. Volkov, 1.

Entrance: the cost of tickets for the evening performance on the main stage is 100-700 RUB.

Prices on the page are for September 2018.

The Russian State Academic Drama Theater named after F.G. Volkov was founded in Yaroslavl in 1750. The first Russian professional public theater.

XVIII century. First Russian

According to legend, the glory of the Russian theater dates back to the old tannery, in which the theater of "eager comedians", headed by the merchant's son Fyodor Grigorievich Volkov, staged performances.

By 1750, not an amateur, but a professional theater appeared in Yaroslavl with a permanent troupe, an extensive repertoire and a new building for the performance of tragedies and comedies, which could accommodate up to 1000 spectators.

The first Yaroslavl comedians who made up the troupe of Fyodor Volkov were employees of the Yaroslavl provincial chancellery Ivan Dmitrevsky, Ivan Ikonnikov, Semyon Kuklin, Yakov Popov, the townspeople of the Tveritskaya settlement Semyon Skochkov, immigrants from Little Russia (Ukraine) Yakov Shumsky and Demyan Galik. The troupe also includes Fyodor Volkov's brothers - Grigory and Gabriel.

The repertoire of the Volkovsk troupe included the spiritual dramas of Metropolitan Dimitry of Rostov, the tragedies of Racine, Sumarokov, and the comedy of Moliere. Fyodor Volkov and his Yaroslavl associates formed the core of the first state Russian professional national public theater.

In 1751 news of the Yaroslavl theater reached St. Petersburg. The Senate executor Count Ignatiev, being in Yaroslavl by the Senate's decision to investigate the abuse of wine ransoms, in his free time attended the performances of the Volkov troupe, and upon his return his rave reviews of the Yaroslavl theater reach Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. On January 5, 1752, the highest decree was issued: “Fyodor Grigoriev, son of Volkov, he is also Polushkin, with brothers Gavril and Grigoriy (who maintain theater and play comedies in Yaroslavl) and whoever they still need to be brought to St. Petersburg ... "

High professional skill, natural endowments contributed to the recognition of Volkov's talent, the confirmation of the glory of the first actor of the Russian theater. The significance of Volkov's deeds is enormous. He defended the national identity of the Russian theater, laid the foundation for the school of Russian acting, illuminated by the light of noble and humanistic ideals. Volkov's theater was a civil, patriotic, tyrannical theater, it defended the motives of liberty, freedom, human dignity.

Volkov created new theatrical forms, becoming the director of the "national show", the Masquerade "Triumphant Minerva", held in Moscow in honor of the coronation of Catherine II. He established the performing arts as a school of civic feelings, connected it with the problems of the era. Volkov's striving to democratize the theater and make it accessible to all was extremely important for the further development of the national stage.

Volkov's traditions were further developed by Ivan Dmitrevsky, Volkov's associate, who was destined to go from a writer of the Yaroslavl provincial chancellery to an academician. Volkov's work was continued by Dmitrevsky's students, the great Russian tragedians Katerina Semenova and Alexei Yakovlev, followed by Pavel Mochalov and Mikhail Shchepkin, new generations of Russian theater masters.

With the departure of Volkov and his troupe to St. Petersburg, the theater ceased to exist for some time, but soon theatrical life in Yaroslavl was revived. Since 1777, the development of culture has been promoted by the enlightened governor A. P. Melgunov, patron of literature, theater and publishing. The governor encourages the development of the theater, amateur performances are staged in his house. In 1786, the first actor of the Russian Imperial Theater, Volkov's successor, Ivan Afanasyevich Dmitrevsky gave his tour at the Melgunov Theater in Yaroslavl. He played Sinava in Sumarokov's tragedy Sinav and Truvor.

XIX century. Becoming

Later, theaters in Yaroslavl arose on a private initiative: the theater was kept in his house by the governor M.N. Golitsyn, in a specially equipped building - by Prince D.M. Urusov (from the end of the 18th century to 1818).

The most important stage in the development of the theatrical business in Yaroslavl was the construction of the first special theater building in 1819. It was built by the provincial architect Pyotr Yakovlevich Pankov at his own expense and according to his own project. The building in the style of classicism was built on the site of the demolished rampart. Since then, for almost two hundred years, the Yaroslavl theater has been located in the very place that Pankov chose for it.

The owner of the theater building was the wife of Peter Yakovlevich - Elizaveta Andrianovna. She also dealt with the troupe's affairs. From 1824 Pankov began to lease the theater. The first tenant was V.S.Tikhmenev. Since 1826, the building was rented by the wealthy landowner of the Lyubimsky district V. Obreskov, who had his own serf actors. Then the troupe of D. M. Urusov played for one year. He was replaced as an entrepreneur "by the actor Lisitsyn, dismissed with a full pension from the Directorate of the Imperial Moscow Theater".

As the Yaroslavl historian NS Zemlyanskaya found out, in the 1820s Pankov seriously rebuilt the building: according to the documents she found in the archive, it appears that by the end of the 1820s it was already made of stone.

And in 1834 it was acquired by the actor Mikhail Yakovlevich Alekseev, who received a rich inheritance, who rebuilt the building again in 1841. With minor changes, it served for another forty years.

After Alekseev's death in 1848, the building was inherited by his young daughter Thekla (her mother managed the affairs), and in 1855 the former serf musician became the owner of the Yaroslavl theater, and then the theater cashier Vasily Andreevich Smirnov, who married Thekla. Smirnov cared little about keeping it in good condition. Having squeezed out everything that was possible from the enterprise, in 1880 he sold the theater to the merchant of the 1st guild, Sergei Arefievich Chernogorov.

Soon after Chernogorov took over the theater, it turned out that the building did not meet fire safety requirements. The City Duma demanded from Chernogorov to carry out a serious reconstruction of the premises, including to arrange fireproof stairs. Realizing what kind of collar he put on his neck, Chernogorov chose to sell the theater building to the city council for 15,000 rubles - even cheaper than the same price (19,000 rubles) that he paid when buying it.

In 1882, the theater passed, in modern terms, into municipal property. Considering its condition, the city, as the new owner, began a serious reconstruction in the same summer. In fact, a new building was built on the basis of the old volume. It is assumed that the author of the project could be a young talented architect Nikolai Ivanovich Pozdeev. However, no documentary evidence of this has been found. Pozdeev really participated in the reconstruction, but at the same time he was implementing his own project or someone else's, it is not known for certain.

During the reconstruction, extensions were made along the front and side facades, which gave the theater a completely different look: the audience had a complete feeling that a new building had appeared in the city. The layout of the auditorium has also changed. After the reconstruction, it has 677 seats: in the stalls - 195, in the boxes - 215, in the galleries - 267.

Among the entrepreneurs who rented the theater from the city were Derkach, Danilov, Lebedeva, Baron von Tyumen. There is no memory of their theatrical activities in the city.

In 1887-1889, the enterprise was held by N. A. Borisovsky. He included plays by Fonvizin, Ostrovsky, Sukhovo-Kobylin, Turgenev, Moliere, Shakespeare and other serious authors in his repertoire. A. P. Chekhov's play "Ivanov" was staged in Yaroslavl under Borisovsky even earlier than in St. Petersburg. He was the first to make a proposal to erect a monument to FG Volkov in the city.

After Borisov, the theater was rented by A.P. Nabalov from Vologda, who relied on an operetta and farcical troupe. A serious repertoire again returned to the Yaroslavl Theater in 1894-1897 during the entreprise of the Korsh theater artist ZA Malinovskaya. She was replaced by A.M. Karalli-Tortsov, focused on a commercially successful repertoire to the detriment of serious drama. Subsequently, he twice took an entreprise at the Yaroslavl Theater (1902-1904 and 1912-1914). His daughter Vera Karalli became a famous ballerina.

The Yaroslavl Theater nurtured great talents, which later adorned the capital's stages.

For three seasons (1844 - 1847) the talent of Lyubov Pavlovna Kositskaya (later Nikulina-Kositskaya) was formed on the Yaroslavl stage. Young Kositskaya, who had an attractive appearance and a good voice, quickly became a favorite of the Yaroslavl and Rybinsk audiences. She played in tragedies, comedies, dramas and vaudeville, arousing the delight of the audience with the grace of performance and sincerity of feeling. The younger contemporary of Mochalov and Shchepkin, Nikulina-Kositskaya became the predecessor of Yermolova, Strepetova, Olga Sadovskaya on the Russian drama stage. She was destined to become the best performer of the role of Katerina in "The Thunderstorm" by A. N. Ostrovsky.

In the 1860s, the still unknown young actress Pelageya Antipievna Strepetova made her debut on the stage of the Rybinsk Theater. Two seasons - in 1865 - 1866, the actress served in Smirnov's enterprise on the stage of the Yaroslavl Theater.

A great event in the life of Yaroslavl was the tour on the stage of the city theater of the great Russian actor Mikhail Semenovich Shchepkin. He came to Yaroslavl twice: in the spring of 1856 and in May 1858. Shchepkin's first visit to Yaroslavl coincided with the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Russian Theater in St. Petersburg. At a gala dinner hosted in honor of the actor by the provincial leader of the nobility, Shchepkin called for the erection of a monument to the founder of the Russian Theater, Fyodor Grigorievich Volkov.

In the season 1896 - 1897, Ivan Mikhailovich Moskvin began his stage activity in Yaroslavl. Here his first glory came to him, here his talent received public recognition and support. In the first season of the Moscow Art Theater, in 1898, Moskvin was entrusted with the role of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich.

In the Yaroslavl Theater, a young Yaroslavl resident Leonid Vitalievich Sobinov, the future great Russian singer, began his stage career as an inconspicuous extra. On August 9, 1898, the first concert of Sobinov, the tenor of the Imperial Theaters, who had already won fame, took place in his hometown.

In the first half of the 19th century, the best actors of the Volkovsky theater troupe asserted a new stage truth, in their work, in contrast to the routine manner of acting, a bright realistic beginning was ripening.

A major event in the life of Yaroslavl was the tour of the largest Russian actors, masters of theatrical art V.P.Samoilov, V.I. Zhivokini - representatives of the Sadovsky dynasty. G. N. Fedotova, A. E. Martynov, F. P. Gorev, V. V. Charsky, K. N. Poltavtsev, P. M. Medvedev, N. Kh. Rybakov, famous negro tragedian Ira Aldridge, brothers Adelheim, M.V. Dalsky, P.N. Orlenev, M.N.Ermolova, V.F.Komissarzhevskaya, K.A. , singer N. V. Plevitskaya, A. D. Vyaltseva, Varya Panina. In the 1890s, KS Stanislavsky performed here several times.

XX century. With the name of Volkov

The 1899-1900 season was marked by preparations for the jubilee and celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Russian national theater. The best forces of the imperial - St. Petersburg and Moscow Maly - theaters were invited to the anniversary Volkov celebrations in 1900. Celebrations in Yaroslavl in honor of the birth of the First Russian Theater have become a holiday throughout Russia.

In 1906, it turned out that the theater building had fallen into disrepair. At first, the city authorities, having decided to build a new building, entrusted the drawing up of a project and an estimate to the city architect Alexander Nikiforov. He completed the assigned work, and his project was even approved by the City Duma. But the public in Yaroslavl criticized Nikiforov's project and was eventually rejected.

Meanwhile, the old building was demolished in the summer of 1907, and the construction of a new one did not begin.

In 1909, an all-Russian competition was finally announced for the best design for the building of the new city theater. The Duma decided to build a new theater with a capacity of at least 1,000 spectators. The jury of the competition was headed by the chairman of the Moscow Architectural Society F. Shekhtel. A total of 66 projects were submitted to the competition. And the first prize was awarded to Nikolai Spirin (1882 - 1938), a 27-year-old student of the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

The building, designed by Spirin and under his supervision, was built in just a year and a half - a fantastically short time! On the facade of the theater and on the side walls there are sculptural compositions, on the portico there is a sculptural group, in the center of which is the patron of the arts Apollo Kifared, on the left is the muse of Melpomene's tragedy, on the right is the muse of the comedy Thalia (or, according to another version, the muse of Euterp's lyric poetry). Side sculptural high reliefs (metopes) are dedicated to the motives of the ancient tragedy.

The auditorium is decorated with a picturesque frieze "Triumph of Dionysus" by the famous artist of the "Silver Age" Nikolai Verkhoturov and his assistant Vera Saken. The set designer was the Yaroslavl artist Alexei Kornilov.

On September 28, 1911, the new theater building was solemnly opened with a huge crowd of people. At the opening, a welcoming telegram from KS Stanislavsky was read: “Please accept my heartfelt gratitude for the invitation and memory ... I sincerely wish that a nice young business was born and flourished in the homeland of the founder of the Russian theater. Please accept your congratulations and pass on to the participants in the case. Stanislavsky ".

By the decision of the City Duma, the new theater was named after Fyodor Grigorievich Volkov.

For two years (1914 - 1916) a young, but already well-known in Russia director I.A.Rostovtsev kept an entreprise in the theater. attention to Russian classical drama.

By the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of November 9, 1917, all theaters in the country were transferred to the jurisdiction of the People's Commissariat of Education.

But it was only in August 1918 that the management of the Volkovo Theater was transferred to the art section at the Department of Public Education of the Yaroslavl Provincial Executive Committee. Artist N.G. Kitaev was appointed administrator of the theater. The theatrical board was headed by the doctor F.S. Troitsky. In October 1918, the theater was municipalized.

Opening of the first season of the Soviet theater. Volkov took place on October 26, 1918. The head of the art section made a speech at the opening ceremony. The theater season lasted 9 months, 233 performances were played, 100 (!) Plays were staged.

In the 1920s and 1930s, artistic directors B.E.Bertels, I.A.Rostovtsev, D.M. Mansky, artists A.I. NN Medovshchikov, people of great creative courage, inner temperament, with great demands on themselves and others, with a desire to raise the level of theater to the true heights of art.

In the second half of the 30s, the troupe of the Volkovsky theater united into a wonderful, strict and harmonious ensemble of stage masters, who for many decades determined the creative face of the theater. These are S. Romodanov, A. Chudinova, A. Magnitskaya, V. Sokolov, S. Komissarov, V. Politimsky, G. Svobodin.

The repertoire of the 1930s is represented by Russian classics, primarily by Ostrovsky's drama (The Thunderstorm, The Dowry, Guilty Without Guilt, The Last Victim), where the roles of Katerina, Larisa Ogudalova, Kruchinina, Yulia Tugina brilliantly reveal tragic talent of Alexandra Chudinova.

The theater's ability to deeply, philosophically and psychologically reveal the "crisis" person of the Soviet era is becoming stronger. The breath of time burst onto the stage in "Bread" by V. Kirshon and "Dalekom" by A. Afinogenov, "Platon Krechet" by A. Korneichuk and "My friend" by N. Pogodin.

In the performances "Three Sisters" by AP Chekhov, "Anna Karenina" (after Leo Tolstoy), "Romeo and Juliet" by V. Shakespeare, "Nora" by G. Ibsen, "Treachery and Love" by F. Schiller, the Volkovites affirm the desire for a deeply psychological theater, for the disclosure of spiritual truth.

The Yaroslavl people were the first to stage "Peter I" by Alexei Tolstoy on the provincial stage. The play was born in close collaboration with the author of the play. The premiere of the performance on May 19, 1939 was attended by Alexei Tolstoy, who noted the excellent performance of the central roles by S. Romodanov and A. Chudinova. The Moscow tour in 1939 brought the collective well-deserved recognition and fame.

Until December 1938, the theater was listed as a city theater, then it was renamed as a regional one, since 1943 it was called the Yaroslavl State Theater. F.G. Volkova.

During the Great Patriotic War, many Volkovites went to the front, standing up with weapons in their hands to defend the Motherland. Among them are actors Valerian Sokolov, Vladimir Mitrofanov, Dmitry Aborkin, Vladimir Mosyagin, decorator and later actor Konstantin Lisitsyn, awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, actress who became a front-line intelligence officer, Sofya Avericheva, actress Maria Rypnevskaya, artistic director of the theater David Mansky. The young director Semyon Orshansky came to the theater in 1940. He made his debut with the play "Hot Heart" by A. N. Ostrovsky, managed to stage "The guy from our city", "The Gadfly". In 1942 he was killed in the battles for Stalingrad.

The enemy was near Moscow. We had arguments in the theater about what was more important in difficult years for the Motherland: art that inspires people to fight, or direct participation in battle. The opinions were different. And when one day our actors V.G. Sokolov, A.P. Demin, S.P. Avericheva, V.I.Mitrofanov joined the troops leaving to the west - everyone envied them.

The harsh, austere military drama has become the leading one in the theatrical repertoire from the very beginning of the war - "A guy from our city", "Russian people" by K. Simonov, "Front" by A. Korneichuk, "Invasion" by L. Leonov, "Boatwoman" by N. Pogodin , "General Brusilov" by I. Selvinsky, "Field Marshal Kutuzov" by V. Solovyov.

In 1943, on the Volkovskaya stage, the premiere of "The Old Man" by M. Gorky, directed by I. Rostovtsev, took place, which became a noticeable phenomenon in the theatrical life of the country. The role of the Old Man became the zenith of the acting fame of the wonderful actor Pavel Gaideburov. The play revealed the deep nature and bestial ideology of fascism. Gaideburov masterly conveyed the voluptuous, predatory pleasure of the Old Man, burnt by misanthropic animal malice, the rapture by the very process of torture with fear, the possibility of executing a person ... At the same time, the play was shown on tour in the capital and was called "an outstanding event in the theatrical life of Moscow."

In 1950, the 200th anniversary of the First Russian Theater was solemnly celebrated. On June 11, 1950, “for great achievements in the development of theatrical art, in connection with the 200th anniversary of the founding day,” the theater was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

Beginning in the 50s, the theater entered a period of true flourishing. The best stage masters - People's Artists of the USSR and the RSFSR, laureates of State Prizes Grigory Belov, Valery Nelsky, Sergey Romodanov, Alexandra Chudinova, Klara Nezvanova - carry a considerable charge of the old Russian classical theater culture in their work. The performances of the Volkovsky Theater are marked by the unity and integrity of the handwriting.

At the end of the 1940s, a new artistic director, Pyotr Vasiliev, came to the theater - an artist of a bright, powerful and temperamental talent, especially in the staging of Gorky's plays Egor Bulychov and Others, Somov and Others.

In the mid-50s, the theater troupe was replenished with graduates of the capital's theater universities. Young actors Tamara Nikolskaya and Felix Mokeev (Larisa and Karandyshev in Blessing, Nina Zarechnaya and Treplev in The Seagull, Liza and Panshin in The Noble Nest), Natalia Terentyeva, Sergei Tikhonov, Felix Razdyakonov, quickly become favorites of the public in Yaroslavl. Igor Baranov, Lev Dubov, Yuri Karaev.

Diverse and generous acting palette allows the director Tikhon Kondrashev to create the performances "Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich", "The Seagull", "Noble's Nest", "Dowry".

From 1960 to 1978, the theater was headed by an outstanding figure of Soviet theatrical art, People's Artist of the USSR, laureate of State Prizes Firs Shishigin. A significant stage in the history of the Volkovo stage is associated with the name of Shishigin, who headed the theater for almost two decades.

It was a Russian character, sweeping, spontaneous, with enormous internal contradictions. The Russian theater of the second half of the twentieth century can name a few directors who so passionately, enthusiastically and energetically worked on the global and tragic problem of the Russian people and history. Shishigin's time in the theater is a time of creative enthusiasm and unprecedented unity of the troupe.

In different years (1960, 1963, 1975), striving to perpetuate the image of Fyodor Volkov, the theater turns to creating a play about the first Russian actor. The author of all the stage versions was the Volkovets actor, playwright Nikolai Mikhailovich Sever. In 1960, a romantic drama appeared on the stage (directed by R. Vartapetov). Then, in 1963, F. Shishigin staged a powerful folk performance, including Russian games, excerpts from the drama Tsar Maximilian, episodes from Sumarokov's tragedies Khorev, Sinav and Truvor, and the Triumphant Minerva masquerade.

In the early 60s, the energetic director Viktor Davydov, captivating with his performances, worked on the Volkovsk stage. Next to the elders of the Volkovskaya stage - G. Belov, V. Nelsky, A. Chudinova, G. Svobodin, K. Nezvanova, S. Romodanov, the talent and talents of the new generation of Volkovskaya stage masters - Nikolai Kuzmin, Yuri Karaev, Vladimir Solopov, Natalia Terentyeva, Sergei Tikhonov, Felix Razdyakonov.

On April 29, 1966 "for outstanding services in the development of Soviet theatrical art" the Ministry of Culture of the USSR awarded Yaroslavl the Order of the Red Banner of Labor to the theater named after FG Volkov honorary title - academic.

On January 12, 1962, the board of the Ministry of Culture of the RSFSR adopted a resolution “On the work of the Yaroslavl Drama Theater. F.G. Volkov ”, in which the task was to reconstruct the theater building. The design assignment, approved by the regional executive committee on May 9, provided for an increase in the volume of the building due to the superstructure and extension by 16.5 thousand cubic meters - from 38 to 54.5 thousand. At the same time, the number of seats was reduced from 1100 to 1054. The estimated cost of reconstruction was determined at 628 thousand rubles, which roughly corresponded to the cost of building 125 two-room apartments. The stage box was built six meters high, and a three-story part 21 meters long was added to the back.

The architectural design of the facades of the attached and built-on parts was made in the character of the existing building while maintaining a single integral appearance. In the new part of the building, the same divisions, rustication, cornices were continued, the same types of windows were adopted. The main facade of the theater was minimally affected by the reconstruction.

As a result, the dimensions of the main stage of the theater increased significantly: with a width of 21 meters (this parameter did not change), its depth was 20 meters, and the height from the tablet to the grate was 24 meters. According to these indicators, from the country's drama theaters, even today only the Theater of the Russian Army and the Moscow Art Theater, the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, the theaters of Arkhangelsk and Yekaterinburg and ... the Yaroslavl Youth Theater can compete with Volkovsky. And in 1967, Yaroslavl residents bypassed only the Theater of the Soviet Army, Leningradsky im. Pushkin (Alexandrinka) and Arkhangelsky. The authors of the project for the reconstruction of the Volkovsky theater were Yaroslavl architect Lyudmila Vasilyevna Shiryaeva (spectator section) and Muscovite Elizaveta Natanovna Chechik (stage complex).

During the reconstruction period, the main stage for the Volkovites was the Palace of Culture of the Yaroslavl Motor Plant. The stage of the Palace of Culture was given to the Volkovites 15-17 days a month. On the rest of the days, the theater showed performances in clubs and houses of culture, including rural ones, went on tour.

The grand opening of the theater after reconstruction took place on August 1, 1967. There were no distinguished guests from the capital at the event. Everything went quite like a family: the city leadership praised the builders, the builders wished the artists success, the artists thanked the city leadership for their care. As reported by the Severny Rabochiy newspaper, “ at the evening, the first secretary of the regional committee of the CPSU F.I. Loschenkov. On behalf of the regional and city party committee, the regional executive committee and the city executive committee, he cordially thanked the builders, architects, installers, designers, all those who contributed their work to the reconstruction of the building of the FG Volkov theater. The renovated building of the theater, he noted, is a wonderful gift to the working people of Yaroslavl for the 50th anniversary of the Great October Revolution. This is a great event in the cultural life of the city and region. Congratulating the theater staff on the opening of the 218th season, F.I.».

The gala evening ended with the performance "Fyodor Volkov".

In 1969, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of V.I. The parties assumed mutual obligations.

The theater staff, in particular, pledged to "create highly artistic performances about our modern times, performances telling about the implementation of Lenin's behests." A program was developed for the aesthetic education of the workers of the enterprise. Theater workers at the factory sites held conversations about the creative path of the collective, about its masters, meetings of actors, directors, artists with workers, impromptu concerts, introduced shin workers to new performances, organized joint evenings, creative and technical workers of the theater provided assistance to factory amateur performances.

For its part, "the collective of the plant, using the help of the theater in the communist education of the working people, is more successful in solving production problems and raising the culture of production."

Until 1970, the theater was subordinate to the Department of Culture of the Yaroslavl Regional Executive Committee. In 1970, it was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture of the RSFSR.

In 1975, in connection with its 225th anniversary, the Volkovsky Theater was awarded the Order of the October Revolution.

At the turn of the 70s - 80s, the traditions of the Russian stage school were continued by Vladimir Kuzmin, who headed the theater. The Barbarians and The Fake Coin by M. Gorky were resolved in a modern and psychologically rich manner. V. Yezhov's "Nightingale's Night" was marked with romantic inspiration and agitated lyricism; Ch. Aitmatov's "Mother's Field" conquered with its epic breadth.

One of the most notable productions of the 1980s was the play "Delo" based on the play by A. V. Sukhovo-Kobylin (literary version by Viktor Rozov, staged by Sergei Rozov). "The Deal" on the Volkovskaya stage is a play about how human conscience gradually begins to give up, to give in. A man of strict duty, a dream, Muromsky - V. Nelsky becomes a man who disobeys his own voice. The theater tells not only about the collapse of the Tarelkins, about how the case did not burn out, the bribe failed, but also about the fall of a person, about how the conscience was ruined.

From 1983 to 1987, the theater was directed by director Gleb Drozdov. For the first time, a theater director so openly declares his intention to abandon the old traditions, justifying this by the need to free himself from "academicism" and conservative ways of stage existence. For the first time, the theater breaks away so sharply from its origins, from its roots, from its core. Drozdov defends the theater of spectacle and performance, guessing the coming element of the market and the commercialization of entertainment enterprises.

In 1988, the play "Hot Heart" based on the play by A. N. Ostrovsky, staged by Sergei Yashin and Vladimir Bogolepov, emerged as a long-awaited response to the renewal of society that began with perestroika. Isn't it high time today, crushing the former kuroblind and hail-militants, to remember exactly about a hot heart? The theater asked. The performance became a kind of test of the Volkovites for their creative vitality - for their readiness after a painfully sleepy depression for a theatrical transformation game, for vivid characteristics within a well-coordinated acting ensemble, for depicting "living life" through the poetics of the grotesque and carnival. The beauty of nature (artist Elena Kachelaeva) and the beauty of the soul, merged, led one, poetic and lyrical melody, and the whole performance was filled with the air of native freedom.

In the early 90s, the theater was headed by director Vladimir Vorontsov, who foresaw and reflected in his work the rhythms of a catastrophic time. His undoubted successes include the acute psychological production of "Professor Storitsyn" by L. Andreev, the spectacular arena "Corsicanka" by I. Gubach, the poetic confessionality of "Vie Carré" by T. Williams.

The social changes that led to the collapse of the USSR and subsequent events undoubtedly affected the sharp attempts to reform the theater and the state of the collective, which experienced many shocks during this period.

The image of an old Russian theater, a genuine theatrical brotherhood, emerged in the romantic extravaganza "Green Carriage" (1993), staged by Mikhail Mammadov based on a script by A. Gladkov.

In the 1990s, the theater troupe was an ensemble that harmoniously combined the experience of the oldest masters - People's Artists of Russia Nikolai Kuzmin, Natalia Terentyeva, Vladimir Solopov, Felix Razdyakonov - and young actors. The "third" generation of the Volkovites, pupils of the Volkovsky theater, became more and more vividly asserting themselves (all of them graduated from the Yaroslavl Theater School at the F.G. Volkov Theater, and later from the Yaroslavl Theater Institute) - V. Sergeev, T. Ivanova, T. Isaeva, G. Krylova, I. Cheltsova. The characters created by the actors V. Astashin, S. Kutsenko, V. Romanov were marked by acting successes. Graduates of the 80s confidently “kept” the repertoire - T. Gladenko, I. Sidorova, V. Balashov, V. Kirillov, T. Malkova, N. Kudymov, E. Mundum, I. Sidorenko, A. Zubkov.

Since 1996, Vladimir Bogolepov, a thoughtful artist who in the past studied with the famous Volkov's "old men", has become the main director of the theater, honoring the historical traditions and artistic achievements of the theater. The theater is heading towards Russian and world classical drama.

The repertoire of the theater at the turn of the century includes "Thomas" by F. M. Dostoevsky, "Caucasian novel" (based on "The Cossacks" and "Hadji Murad" by L. N. Tolstoy), "Platonov" by A. P. Chekhov, "Without guilt Guilty ”,“ Forest ”,“ Enough simplicity for every wise man ”by A. N. Ostrovsky,“ Inspector General ”by N. V. Gogol. World classics were presented by W. Shakespeare's Hamlet, The Decameron by G. Boccaccio, The Venetian Twins by C. Goldoni, and the play Before Sunset by G. Hauptmann.

At this time, the performances were staged by the masters of directing from Russia, near and far abroad Boris Golubovsky, Stanislav Tayushev, Alexander Kuzin, artistic director of the Prague National Theater Ivan Raimont (Czech Republic), chief director of the M. Gorky Minsk Theater Boris Lutsenko (Belarus), Vladimir Krasovsky , Rostislav Goryaev. Famous artists Dmitry Mokhov (Belarus), Anatoly Shubin, Elena Senatova, Joseph Ziller (Slovakia), composers Alexander Chevsky and Yuri Pryalkin worked in the creative groups.

The theater has made significant tours in Russia and abroad. From 1995 to 1998: Kiev, Minsk, Riga, Nalchik, Novorossiysk, Krasnodar.

In 1997, with the play "The Child Killer" by F. Gorenstein, the theater was invited to Prague, to the stage of the National Theater "Narodny Divadlo". In May - June 1998, with the support of the Russian cultural centers, the theater conducted a tour of the European cities - Paris, Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, Berlin with performances of "Thomas" by Dostoevsky and "Platonov" by Chekhov. The tour had a great artistic resonance and contributed to the establishment of new creative ties of the theater. In 1999, a new tour of the theater took place in Northern Europe - the theater presented its art in Finland, Denmark and Norway.

XXI Century. At the beginning of the new millennium

The jubilee, 250th season, the last theatrical season of the twentieth century, opened at the Fyodor Volkov Russian Academic Drama Theater unusually late - November 30, 1999. This happened because for seven whole months the theater underwent a large-scale renovation, quite comparable to the reconstruction. The situation was aggravated by the financial crisis of the late 90s, during which the money allocated by the Ministry of Culture to prepare for the anniversary was partially depreciated.

During the renovation, which the theater director Valery Sergeev had to do, not only painted the walls of the building, but also replaced about two hundred meters of reliefs on the facades, supplementing them with some reliefs based on the sketches of the architect Nikolai Spirin, which were not implemented in 1911. Large works were carried out on the repair of the foyer, dressing rooms and utility rooms, replacement of rafters, roofing and all networks - sewerage, water supply, power supply and ventilation, renewal and replacement of sound equipment. By the beginning of the season, the theater got a new curtain. And also - on the main facade, the sculptural group of Apollo and theatrical muses was replaced. For more than eighty years, the sculptures were badly damaged by bad weather and could simply collapse down on the anniversary days. The new Apollo - an exact copy of the previous one - was sculpted by the Yaroslavl sculptor Elena Paskhina.

While the theater was being renovated, the Volkovites went on tour to Kostroma and Vladimir, showed their performances in Rybinsk, Lyubim, Danilov.

On November 30, a gala evening was held to mark the opening of the 250th theatrical season. The first in the jubilee season was the play by director Alexander Kuzin based on the play by Alexander Ostrovsky "Enough for every wise man", which at the beginning of summer the Volkovites showed on their tour of Scandinavia - in Finland, Sweden and Denmark. Valery Kirillov, Natalia Terentyeva, Vladimir Solopov, Valery Sergeev, Vadim Romanov, Tatyana Ivanova, Tatyana Gladenko, Igor Sidorenko, Evgeny Mundum played the main roles in The Sage.

The main premiere of the season was Gogol's "The Inspector General" directed by the chief director of the theater Vladimir Bogolepov. The premiere took place on February 16, 2000. The season ended on April 9 with the "Inspector General". Three days later, the theater showed the play "Enough for Every Wise Man, Enough of Simplicity" in Moscow on the stage of the Maly Theater - as part of the Ostrovsky festival. This was the first performance of the Volkovites in the capital after a long break - since the time of Firs Shishigin! From Moscow, the theater went to St. Petersburg, where four performances were shown on the stage of the Alexandrinka Theater (which had come on tour to Yaroslavl at that time): "Enough for Every Wise Man", "Platonov", "The Inspector General" and "The Venetian Twins".

From 17 to 24 May, the first International Volkovsky Festival took place in Yaroslavl, the motto of which was the words of Mikhail Shchepkin "We owe everything to Volkov, Volkov, Volkov ..." Novgorod, Minsk and Tver.

On May 25, a gala evening dedicated to the 250th anniversary of the first Russian professional theater took place. The newly elected second President of Russia Vladimir Putin took part in the official part. He congratulated the theater on its anniversary and presented state awards: the Order of Honor - to Nikolai Kuzmin, the Order of Friendship - to Felix Razdyakonov and Vladimir Solopov, medals of the Order of Merit to the Fatherland - to actors Larisa Golubeva, Viktor Kuryshev, Lyudmila Okhotnikova, and the requisitor Lid. The certificates of the laureates of honorary titles from the hands of Putin were received by: "Honored Worker of Arts" - chief artist Alexander Babaev and chief director Vladimir Bogolepov; Honored Artist of Russia - Tatiana Gladenko, Valery Kirillov, Tatiana Malkova and Valery Sokolov; "Honored Cultural Worker of the Russian Federation" - property manager Olga Daricheva, head of the make-up department Tamara Klimova, head of the music department Vladimir Selyutin, head of the troupe Elena Susanina. The theater was awarded the Volkov Prize, established by the Russian Government.

The 251st season of the Volkovites threw a bridge from the second millennium into the third: it began in the 20th century and ended in the 21st.

Unfortunately, the rise, which the theater was on towards the anniversary, was replaced by a decline after the holiday. At first they talked about it on the sidelines, then they began to write in the press. A significant blow to the repertoire was ... the marriage of the Honored Artist of Russia Vadim Romanov to the graduate of the Yaroslavl Theater Institute Irina Goryacheva and the May tour of the Volkovites in St. Petersburg. On the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater, the theater staged four performances, in three of which Vadim Romanov shone - “Enough of simplicity for every wise man” (Gorodulin), “Platonov” (the main role) and “The Venetian Twins” (two roles of the twins Zanetto and Tonino). Irina was his partner in The Sage. And they also played together in Hamlet: he is Hamlet, she is Ophelia.

After the tour in St. Petersburg, Irina and Vadim received an invitation to try their hand at the Alexandrinka. In June they got married and left for St. Petersburg.

Two of the best performances of the repertoire - "Hamlet" by Boris Lutsenko and "Platonov" by Ivan Raymont, immediately "hung" in Volkovsky. In "The Sage" and "Gemini" Romanov was replaced, but it did not work out to achieve the former charm of his characters. Romanov, however, was ready to come to Yaroslavl for Hamlet and Platonov, but the director of the theater, Valery Sergeev, did not want to hear about it: Vadim became a cut-off piece for him.

The 251st season opened on October 25, 2000 with the premiere of King Lear directed by Ivan Raymont with Felix Razdyakonov in the title role. The role of the jester, which Raymond planned to give to Vadim Romanov, was played by Vladimir Balashov.

Two days later, on October 27, director Vladimir Krasovsky released the premiere of the play The Magnificent Cuckold, in which the main role was played by Alexandra Chilin-Giri, a graduate of YAGTI, who had just been admitted to the troupe. On December 6, the premiere of the play "Real Laughter" took place. And before the new year - December 19 - the long-awaited opening of the theater's chamber stage took place.

The first performance on the chamber stage was "Christmas Dreams" with Natalia Terentyeva in the title role. This performance by Vladimir Bogolepov was destined to have a long and happy life: it ran for ten seasons and was played almost 150 times. The performance was awarded the F.G. Volkova.

As if catching up with the "lag" of the jubilee season, before the summer the theater released two more premieres of "Fermoza" based on Feuchtwanger's novel on February 28 and May 31, addressed to both children and adults "Nightingale" by Andersen. Completed their lives in the 251st season of the performances "Before Sunset", "Guilty Without Guilt" and "Honest Adventurer".

In April-May, the theater again went on a large foreign tour, having visited Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Germany.

The Volkovites opened the 252nd season with a tour in Moscow. On the stage of the Maly Theater, Yaroslavl residents showed the performances "King Lear", "The Inspector General", "Enough for any wise man", "Corsican". In the same days, the Maly Theater conducted a full-fledged tour in Yaroslavl: Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya", "Wolves and Sheep" and "Mad Money" by Ostrovsky, "Treachery and Love" by Schiller, "Secrets of the Madrid Court" by Scribe and Leguve were performed on the stage of the Volkovsky Theater and "The Dealer" by Balzac - 16 performances took place in total from 8 to 23 September!

On September 8, the theater celebrated the 75th anniversary of the People's Artist of Russia Natalia Ivanovna Terentyeva. It is symbolic that on that day she played on the stage of the Maly Theater - in the play "Enough for Every Wise Man."

The Moscow public very warmly received the artists of the first Russian professional theater. On the whole, the Moscow press also appreciated the performances of the Volkovites quite favorably. Only in one review, published in Nezavisimaya Gazeta, the theater was subjected to devastating criticism. Most of all went to the premiere of the jubilee season - "The Inspector General".

The second International Volkovsky Festival opened on October 16. On the stage of the theater, the first three awards named after Fyodor Volkov, established by the Government of Russia, were awarded. The first, after the Volkovites, the prize winners were the artistic director of the Krasnodar creative association "Premiere" Leonard Gatov, the artistic director of the Chelyabinsk Academic Drama Theater Naum Orlov and Evgeny Panfilov, the artistic director of the Perm Theater "Evgeny Panfilov Ballet". Since 2001, the Volkov Prizes have been awarded annually to three laureates.

After the closing of the festival, the Volkovites left for Kiev, where, as part of the Dostoevsky Evenings in Kiev festival, they showed the play "Foma" based on the story "The Village of Stepanchikovo and Its Inhabitants" with Vladimir Solopov in the title role. Felix Razdyakonov, Natalia Terentyeva, Valery Sergeev, Tatyana Pozdnyakova, Andrei Zubkov and others were also involved in the play.

In the 252nd season, two premieres were played on the big stage - December 24, 2001 - "The Gambler" based on the novel by FM Dostoevsky, on March 27, 2002 - "Spirits" based on Leo Tolstoy's play "The Fruits of Enlightenment". Both performances can be safely attributed to the successes of the theater, they were marked by bright acting works, but, unfortunately, they did not stay in the repertoire: "The Gambler" ran only two seasons (14 performances), "Spirits" - four seasons, but in three of them staged only three times (a total of 20 performances took place). In The Gambler, Olga Stark, a graduate of YAGTI, made a notable debut on the Volkov stage, who was introduced to the role of Blanche after Zamira Kolkhieva's unexpected departure from the theater.

Two performances were added to the repertoire of the small stage - "The Double Game" by William Congreve and "Tango" by Slavomir Mrozek. The last time this season was played were "Liar", "Real Laughter", "Thomas", "Child-killer" and "King Lear". The last three left the repertoire due to the illness of the People's Artist of Russia Felix Innokentyevich Razdyakonov, who played the main roles in them.

On April 21, 2002, the season ended with a pre-premiere screening of the play "The Sixth Floor" based on the play by Albert Géry staged by Stanislav Tayushev, after which the theater went on another foreign tour to Helsinki, Copenhagen and Berlin. This time the Volkovites showed Europe "Corsicanka" and "The Inspector General".

In the meantime, the first Russian professional theater traveled across Europe, the second Festival of theatrical schools of Russia was held in Yaroslavl, in which all the leading theatrical universities of the country took part.

The 253rd season of the Volkovsky Theater opened on September 5, 2002 with the premiere performance "The Sixth Floor". Having played a week in Yaroslavl, the theater went on tour to Novorossiysk and Krasnodar.

On September 19, the theater suffered a heavy loss - People's Artist of Russia Nikolai Vasilyevich Kuzmin died.

From 11 to 22 October, the third International Volkovsky Festival took place in Yaroslavl. It opened with the ballet "Golden Age" of the Krasnodar association "Premiere". Its director, the outstanding choreographer Yuri Grigorovich, as well as the artistic director of the Chuvash Drama Theater, People's Artist of Russia Valery Yakovlev and the A. Koltsov Voronezh Drama Theater received the 2002 Fyodor Volkov Prize.

In the 253rd season, the theater produced four premieres on the big stage and two on the small stage. It was in this season that a tilt towards comedies was made, which soon took the main place in the repertoire. But if "Wolves and Sheep" and "Qodzha Skirmishes" were distinguished by at least good-quality dramaturgy, then the comedies "What the Butler Saw" and "The Last Ardent Lover" did not bring any honor to the theater or the actors. The Decameron, The Gambler and The Magnificent Cuckold ended their lives on stage.

At the end of April, the Volkovites showed "The Inspector General" on tour in Cairo. The Egyptian Ministry of Culture provided Russian artists with luxurious rooms in a 4-star hotel, organized trips to the pyramids and the best museums. In their free time from performances, the Volkovites were happy to try on oriental life: they smoked a hookah, rode camels, walked around the markets.

The theatrical season in Yaroslavl ended with a tour of the Alexandrinsky Theater. These tours for the Yaroslavl theater-goers were interesting, among other things, because they again - three years later - saw Vadim Romanov on the Volkovo stage. He was engaged in two touring performances - Vanity Fair and Trees Die Standing.

The new, 254th season in Volkovskoye opened unusually early - on August 12, 2003. On August 21, Goldoni's K'odzhinsky Skirmishes, directed by Ivan Raymont, were played. The theater connected serious plans for "" with this performance, but the Volkovites managed to sound weighty at the main theatrical competition of the country only five years later with "Woe from Wit".

In September, the theater once again visited the already traditional tour in Novorossiysk. The IV International Volkovsky Festival took place from 15 to 25 October. The Volkov Prize winners are the V. Mayakovsky Norilsk Polar Drama Theater, the Khakass Republican Puppet Theater "Fairy Tale" and the Molodezhny Theater ("Tilsit Theater") from the city of Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Region. This theater was then headed by the future artistic director of Volkovsky, Evgeny Marcelli. His performance "Othello" with Vitaly Kishchenko in the title role closed the festival and became its main event.

The first premiere of the season was in December the comedy "The Fool" by Lope de Vega. Then came the black comedy by Jean Anouil "Birds" and the comedy "Two Verona" by Shakespeare. The plans to stage the play "Biography" by Swiss Max Frisch remained just plans.

The theater took part in the "Actors of Russia - Shchepkin" festival in Belgorod (showing "K'odzhinsky skirmishes"), toured Brazil, and at the beginning of summer the Volkovites toured the United States, visiting Washington and New York.

On May 6, 2004, People's Artist of Russia Felix Innokentyevich Razdyakonov died.

Before the start of the 255th season in Volkovskoye, a performance of ... Sergei Yesenin took place: in the hall of the first Russian professional theater, the shooting of the serial film "Yesenin" with Sergei Bezrukov in the title role took place. Many Yaroslavl residents also took part in the crowd.

Volkovsky in 2004 entered the top ten best theaters in Russia in the official rating of the Ministry of Culture. One of the main indicators of the rating is 72-75 percent attendance, which was then considered a very high level in Russia.

In September, the theater went on tour to Sevastopol, where it showed six performances. And from 14 to 24 October, the fifth international Volkovsky festival took place. The 2004 Fyodor Volkov Russian Government Prize winners were the Russian Ballet Moscow State Theater under the direction of Vyacheslav Gordeev, People's Artist of the USSR (since the theater's status is regional, paradoxically, it is considered provincial) and the Sverdlovsk State Academic Theater of Musical Comedy. The third laureate was the actor of the Samara Academic Drama Theater named after M. Gorky Alexander Amelin.

The Volkovites started the season on 5 August. On August 17, the premiere of the Strange Mrs. Savage melodrama based on the play by the American playwright John Patrick and staged by Lyudmila Zotova took place. The role of Mrs. Savage was played by the Honored Artist of Russia Tatyana Pozdnyakova. In early August, director Mikhail Mokeev began rehearsals for the Frenchman Georges Feydeau's vaudeville "The Lady's Tailor", but Valery Kirillov had to finish the work. Therefore, the premiere took place only in March 2005, and in December 2004 The Savage, a lyrical comedy about love by the Spaniard Alejandro Casona, directed by Vladimir Bogolepov, was shown.

Immediately after the Volkovsky festival, People's Artist of Russia Sergei Yashin began rehearsals of the comedy "Mad Money" by A. Ostrovsky - the premiere took place on April 4. Honored Art Worker of Russia, Artistic Director of the Sevastopol Academic Drama Theater Vladimir Magar transferred his "Cyrano de Bergerac" to the Volkov stage (the premiere took place on July 10). In his own staging, Magar mixed fragments from three translations of the famous play - Tatyana Schepkina-Kupernik, Vladimir Solovyov and Yuri Aikhenwald, and also added a lot of his own. The result is a very strange hybrid, very far from the heroic comedy of Rostand. Amazingly, some of the actors refused to participate in the production of Magar already in the course of work (although their names were even included in the program released for the premiere).

Three premieres took place during the season on the chamber stage: Chekhov's Two Funny Stories of Love (based on the one-act plays The Bear and The Proposal) directed by Valery Kirillov. Nikolai Schreiber in the role of Platonov. In 2007, "Two stories" were transferred to the big stage.), The comedy "Hunted Horse" by Francoise Sagan (director Anatoly Beirak) and a dark story based on Vasily Sigarev's play "Ladybugs Return to Earth" staged by the well-deserved Russian artist Galina Krylova. Initially, it was the graduation performance of the course of Valery Kirillov at the Yaroslavl Theater Institute. Most of the graduates of this course joined the troupe of the Volkov Theater.

In the 255th season, they completed their lives on the stage of "Birds" (only 13 performances were shown in a year), "The Butler", "The Sixth Floor" and "Spirits", as well as ten seasons of "Forest", "The Groom in the Closet" "And" New Pygmalion ". In some of them the main roles were played by the Honored Artist of Russia Vladimir Balashov, who tragically died on November 11, 2004: at night in the very center of Yaroslavl, he was killed by some thugs.

The highlight of the season was the play The Cherry Orchard, staged by Eimuntas Nyakroshius, starring the stars of the Russian theater (Ranevskaya - Lyudmila Maksakova, Gaev - Vladimir Ilyin, Lopakhin - Yevgeny Mironov, Firs - Alexey Petrenko). "Northern Territory" devoted as many as two reviews to this highly controversial performance.

The season ended with a tour of the Volkovites in Denmark and Argentina, where Valery Kirillov staged a performance-concert "In the forest near the front" staged by Valery Kirillov for the 60th anniversary of the Victory.

Opening the 256th season, the Volkovites, of course, could not have known that it would be the last for the chief director of the theater, Vladimir Bogolepov.

The last week of August was devoted to the rehearsals of two new performances: the chief director of the Kostroma Drama Theater Sergei Morozov took up Schiller's Insidiousness and Love, and Vladimir Bogolepov began to realize his old dream - staging Chekhov's The Seagull. On the small stage, Anatoly Beyrak began work on Strinberg's Miss Julie. Ivan Raymont promised to start work on a new performance. But most of these plans were not destined to come true: rehearsals of Schiller's play were stopped, work on Miss Julie lasted for more than a year, Raymond did not come to Yaroslavl.

The Volkovites began the season with an exchange tour: the theater left for Samara, where since September 16 it has shown six performances on the big stage and three on the chamber stage. Then three international theater festivals took place one after another. First, Yaroslavl residents with "Mad Money" went to Magnitogorsk; October 20 in Belgorod we took part in the "Actors of Russia - Shchepkin" festival; On October 15, the play "Cyrano de Bergerac" opened the season in Yaroslavl, and from October 25 the theater received guests of the sixth festival "We owe everything to Volkov, Volkov, Volkov."

The Volkov Festival was opened by the Perm State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater under the direction of the laureate of the RF Government Prize named after Fyodor Volkov, People's Artist of Russia Georgy Isahakyan. Yaroslavl spectators saw the ballet "Bestiary" based on the works of Gozzi, Andersen and Kafka. On October 26, another laureate of the festival, People's Artist of Russia Nikolai Gorokhov, appeared on the Volkovskaya stage in the performance "Romeo and Juliet" by the Vladimir Drama Theater. The third laureate of 2005 - the Novosibirsk youth theater "Globus" closed the VI Volkovsk festival with "Krechinsky's wedding" based on the play by Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin.

At the end of the year, at a press conference in Moscow, the decision of the jury of the national theater award "" to award the prize in the category "For honor and dignity" to the actress of the Volkovsky Theater, People's Artist of Russia Natalia Ivanovna Terentyeva was announced at a press conference in Moscow. The award ceremony took place on April 17, 2006 at the Bolshoi Theater.

The first premiere of the 256th season was the play "Rivals" based on Sheridan's play staged by Anatoly Beirak. On March 27, International Theater Day, the premiere of Vladimir Bogolepov's The Seagull took place.

They say that, when starting work on this performance, Bogolepov once said: “When I stage The Seagull, you can die.” His words became a tragic prophecy. As it turned out, with this performance, Vladimir Georgievich summed up the results of his work in the theater. Subtle, built on nuances and semitones, the performance reflected not only Bogolepov's understanding of Chekhov's drama, but also his attitude to the role of theater in the life of society. Vladimir Georgievich Bogolepov died three weeks after the premiere.

The 246th season ended in June with the premiere of The Threepenny Opera by Bertold Brecht and Kurt Weill staged by the chief director of the Kaluga Drama Theater Alexander Pletnev.

After the closing of the 256th theatrical season of the Volkovsky Theater, the Ministry of Culture decided to announce a competition for the position of chief director.

In the new season, the theater intended to continue working on Chekhov. Valery Sergeev wanted to invite Vladimir Magar from Sevastopol, who staged Cyrano in Volkovsky a year ago, to stage the play "Uncle Vanya". Sergeev himself hoped to play the role of Professor Voinitsev in the new production. The production based on the play "With You and Without You" by the American playwright Ivan Menchell was supposed to be directed on the big stage to director Valery Grishko from St. Petersburg. (These plans were never realized.)

The director Anatoly Beyrak worked actively at the theater throughout the season. In October, he staged the play Fröken Julie based on a play by August Strindberg on the chamber stage, Pushkin's Tales for the New Year, and in April for the upcoming anniversary of Natalia Ivanovna Terentyeva, People's Artist of Russia, Solo for Striking Clocks by Oswald Zagradnik. A little earlier - on February 25 - the premiere of the play "Boulevard of Fortune", which was staged by film director Vadim Derbenyov, well known to viewers from the films "The Woman in White", "The Secret of Blackbirds", "Snake Catchers", "Black Corridor" (this film with Innocent Smoktunovsky starring Vadim Klavdievich filmed in Yaroslavl) and many others. In April, the premiere of the play "Duck Hunt" based on the play by Alexander Vampilov took place. The play was staged by the director from Irkutsk Alexander Ishchenko.

Throughout the 257th season, work was underway at Volkovsky on the production of the musical "Spin" (Spinthe Musikal) by Canadian composer Douglas Pashley. The production team of Svenska Teatern, a Swedish theater from Helsinki, worked on this performance. The director Gunnar Helgasson started casting roles in July. The musical was a huge success in Helsinki. The Volkovites also counted on the public's attention to this production, which in many ways was supposed to become a landmark for the theater. The premiere took place at the end of the season - on July 1, but the play did not become fixed in the repertoire: it was shown on the Yaroslavl stage only seven times.

In August, the theater toured Sevastopol, in September and October - in Gomel and Vitebsk, and at the end of December, the Volkovites went with the "Inspector" to the festival of Russian art in Japan.

The seventh Volkovsky festival was held from December 1 to December 10. The program of the festival was opened by the laureate of the 2006 Volkov Government Prize of the Russian Government, the Bashkir State Opera and Ballet Theater (Ufa), which showed Leila Ismagilova's ballet "Arkaim". The prize winners were also the artistic director of the Volgograd new experimental theater Otar Dzhangisherashvili and the Okhlopkov Irkutsk Drama Theater, which closed the festival with the play "First Love" based on the works of Turgenev.

At the beginning of the summer, the Volkovites visited Prague, where they showed Goldoni's "Kojinsky skirmishes" and Chekhov's "Two funny stories about love".

On August 9, the 55th anniversary was celebrated by the director of the theater, People's Artist of Russia Valery Sergeev. In September, the theater went on a traditional tour to Novorossiysk. And on September 20, a message came to Yaroslavl that during the tour Valery Valentinovich Sergeev died suddenly ...

In the 258th season, the Russian State Academic Drama Theater named after Fyodor Volkov entered not only without the main director, but also without the director. For more than a year, the duties of the head were performed by Alexei Nikolaevich Ivanov - a man who had worked as Valery Sergeev's deputy for many years, who knew the team and the problems of the theater well, a strong business executive, but by the nature of his previous work he was quite far from the creative process. And although the theater staff supported Ivanov's candidacy, the decision on the future director was delayed.

During the season, the plans outlined by Valery Sergeev were implemented. From October 25 to November 5, the eighth International Volkovsky Festival was held. The Minusinsk Drama Theater, the Omsk Theater for Children and Youth (TYuZ) and the artist of the Krasnodar State Academic Drama Theater Stanislav Gronsky became laureates of the 2007 Fyodor Volkov Government Prize of the Russian Federation.

In December, the theater suffered another loss - the actress Valentina Isidorovna Shpagina passed away.

The first premiere of the season was the play "Hunting in the Forest of Bondage" based on Ostrovsky's play "Slave" on the small stage. On New Year's Eve, the premiere of "Khanuma" took place on the big stage. In April, director Denis Kozhevnikov released "Memorial Prayer" based on the play by Grigory Gorin. The season ended with the premiere of "Charley's Aunt" directed by Sergei Yashin. Gone from the repertoire of "Corsican", "Enough for every wise man" and "The Last Ardent Lover" - performances in which the main roles were played by Valery Sergeev. In November 2007, The Threepenny Opera was removed from the repertoire, with only 10 performances. In May 2008, the last time were played "Inspector General", "Wolves and Sheep" and "Spin".

At the end of May, Volkovtsy twice showed Oswald Zagradnik's performance "Solo for Striking Clock" within the framework of well-known all-Russian theater festivals - "The Oldest Theaters of Russia" in Kaluga and at the festival-competition in Tambov. The performance was noted by expert critics and the jury of both festivals. The real heroine was Natalia Ivanovna Terentyeva, People's Artist of Russia, who played the role of Mrs. Conti: she was awarded twice - an honorary diploma of the Oldest Theaters of Russia festival in the nomination “For the best performance of a female role” and an award named after the outstanding Russian actor Nikolai Khrisanfovich Rybakov in the nomination “Actress Russia ".

At the end of summer, the theater celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of Firs Efimovich Shishigin.

New times of the First Russian

In the 259th season, a new stage began in the life of the Volkovsky Theater.

The Volkov Festival opened on September 25 with the presentation of the Fyodor Volkov Prizes of the Government of Russia. The 2008 laureates were the Saratov Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, the Orenburg Gorky Drama Theater and the artistic director of the Arkhangelsk Puppet Theater Dmitry Lokhov.

On the eve of the festival, the team was introduced to the new director of Volkovsky, Boris Mikhailovich Mezdrich.

At this time, the rehearsals of the play "Three" based on a little-known story by Gorky were already coming to an end. Vladimir Portnov worked on the play. The premiere took place on November 25 and was received coldly by the audience. Time has shown that the choice of Gorky's story was unsuccessful (by the way, it was originally assumed that Portnov would stage Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra). The play died in a "record" time - in three months: the last time it was played on February 28, 2009. In total, seven performances were given.

The first premiere, which was prepared entirely with the blessing of the new director, was the New Year story "Merry Christmas, Uncle Scrooge!" The play based on Charles Dickens's story "A Christmas Carol in Prose" was written by playwright Olga Nikiforova, whom Boris Mezdrich invited to work at the theater as Deputy Director for Creative Activities. The play, staged by Anatoly Beirak, was not at all like the well-known children's fairy tales that were staged earlier for the New Year holidays, and became the first herald of changes that began in the oldest Russian professional theater.

On February 10, the first "adult premiere" took place under the new director: a play based on the play "Do not part with your loved ones" by Alexander Volodin was staged by the famous actor and director, Honored Artist of Russia Sergei Puskepalis.

Immediately after arriving in Yaroslavl, Boris Mezdrich said that the theater's image is formed not only from the audience's impressions of its own performances, but also from the performances of the guest performers. Therefore, Mezdrich promised, neither Christina Orbakaite nor Valery Meladze will be seen in Volkovsky again. The stage will be provided only to well-known theater groups with a good repertoire. And the director kept his promise in April, inviting the ballet troupe of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater to Yaroslavl, which he directed for several years.

At the end of April, the Volkovsky Theater, together with the Yaroslavl State Theater Institute, organized in Yaroslavl the first festival "The Future of Theater Russia" (BTR), which became the successor to the Festivals of Theater Schools of Russia held at the turn of the century. The first BTR festival was attended by 23 universities and theaters, showing 26 performances.

And even the old skeptics had to finally believe that the new times in Volkovskoye had begun in earnest after the premiere of the play "Woe from Wit" on June 8, 2009. Volkovsky closed the 259th season with this performance.

The play was shown twice - on June 8 and 9. Only a few lucky ones could get to the premiere, the rest had to wait until the fall. Meanwhile, rumors about what was happening on stage instantly spread throughout the city. Some praised the performance to the skies as a kind of revelation, which had never happened on the Volkov stage. Others scolded him just as convincingly, finding many quotes and even borrowings from famous avant-garde performances of the 1920s and 1930s. An inexperienced audience found it difficult to find the words to tell about what they saw to those who were not at the premiere. Enthusiastic assessments of Mezdrich and the director of the play Igor Selin from St. Petersburg were interspersed with almost curses. The success, as they say, was complete.

At the end of June, the troupe went on vacation. And before leaving, the team was introduced to a new chief director - Sergei Puskepalis. In a programmatic performance in front of the troupe, Sergei Vytauto called Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky his idol in theatrical art, and his teaching - "the way of the theatrical ship." In the Volkovsky theater, Puskepalis said, he feels like a navigator of a ship, on which there is a strong, confidently leading ship, the captain - director of the theater Boris Mezdrich.

The gathering of the troupe, preceding the 260th season, took place in mid-August 2009. The repertoire plans, which the chief director Sergei Puskepalis introduced to the Volkovites, was impressed not only by the variety and novelty of names, different, known, rare or not at all known to our public. The level of directing attracted attention: from the Honored Artist of Russia, Professor of the Moscow Art Theater School Vladimir Petrov, Honored Artist of Russia Evgeny Marcelli (both are laureates of the national theater award "Golden Mask") to the youngest in Russian directing - twenty-four-year-old Timofey Kulyabin from Novosibirsk.

In early September, the Volkovites presented the play Don't Part With Your Beloved at one of the most prestigious theater festivals - the All-Russian Real Theater Festival, which takes place annually in Yekaterinburg and is recognized as the third most important in Russia after the capital's Golden Mask and the St. Petersburg's Baltic House ". The Volkovo theater season opened on September 12 with the performance "Woe from Wit". On October 24, the first premiere was the musical performance "Concert" directed by Andrey Rusinov from Yekaterinburg. The libretto based on famous songs of the twentieth century (the history of the country in song from the Silver Age to the 70s) was created by Olga Nikiforova, the composer of the play is Igor Esipovich, the new head of the musical part of the theater.

In the fall, the first double issue of the Teatralny Krug magazine came out. Born, in the words of the editor-in-chief of the magazine Elena Medvedskaya, “in the heart of the Volkovsky theater”, the magazine reflected in detail his life in the past season.

The 10th International Volkovsky Festival was held from 3 to 9 November. Its core credo is "Russian drama in the languages ​​of the world." The 2009 Goncharov Drama Theater from Ulyanovsk and the Kolyada Theater from Yekaterinburg, as well as the People's Artist of Russia, actress of the A. Koltsov Voronezh Drama Theater Lyudmila Zolotareva-Kravtsova became laureates of the 2009 Fyodor Volkov Government Prize of the Russian Federation.

On December 3, residents of Yaroslavl saw The Wonderful World (The Trick of the Great Mertviarch) based on the play by Michel de Gelderod, directed by Vladimir Petrov. On December 17, YAGTI professor Alexander Kuzin released Imre Kalman's "Silva" with his course on Volkovsky's big stage. Sergei Puskepalis staged the play "Snow Trouble" based on the play by Olga Nikiforova for the new year.

On December 8, at a press conference held in Moscow at the Meyerhold Center, the nominees for the 2009 Golden Mask National Theater Award were announced. The performance of the Academic Drama Theater named after Volkov "Woe from Wit" directed by Igor Selin was named a nominee for "The Mask" in five nominations at once! Director Igor Selin, artist Alexander Orlov, lighting designer Gleb Filshtinsky and actor, performer of the main role of Chatsky - Alexei Kuzmin are presented in the nominations: "The best work of a director", "The best work of an artist in a drama theater", "The best work of a lighting designer in a drama theater ”,“ Best male role ”. The performance as a whole claimed the title of laureate in the nomination "Best Performance in a Drama / Big Form". The Volkovsky Theater was one of the three non-capital Russian theaters included in the Golden Mask shortlist.

In January, on the big stage of Volkovsky ... a theatrical presentation of the released "How I Spent This Summer", in which he played the main role, took place, became the triumphants of the 60th Berlin Film Festival. Puskepalis and his film partner Sergei Dobrygin were awarded the main prize for the best actor's work. The second Silver Bear was awarded to the film by director Alexei Popogrebsky in the nomination “For Outstanding Contribution to Art”. The owner of this award was the cameraman Pavel Kostomarov.

The premiere of the play "Carmen", staged by Timofey Kulyabin, was scheduled for February 20. But ... at the beginning of the month fire inspectors came to the theater and stopped work for 60 days! Nothing like this has ever happened before in the life of the theater.

On April 5, 2010, within the framework of the festival of performances - nominees for the "Golden Mask", the Volkovites showed "Woe from Wit" in Moscow on the stage of the Mossovet Theater. Unfortunately, the stage of this theater is smaller in size than Volkov's, so the Moscow audience could not see the performance in all its splendor. This time it was not possible to get the "Mask", but the very inclusion of the theater in the number of nominees became a recognition of the creative achievements that the theater achieved in such a short time.

The premiere of "Carmen" took place on 17 April. From 19 to 25 April, the second festival "The Future of Theater Russia" was held. Then, before the end of the season, the performances "Ekaterina Ivanovna" based on Leonid Andreev staged by Yevgeny Marcelli and Chekhov's "Three Sisters" staged by Sergei Puskepalis were released.

All three premieres of the Volkovites became events in the theatrical life not only in Yaroslavl: before the start of these performances, cars with Moscow numbers and numbers of regions neighboring our region began to park at the theater building. The evaluations of the performances both in the press and among the audience were very different, many, having lost the habit of "hurting theater", continued to wait for unpretentious entertaining performances. But, despite the intrigues of ill-wishers, Mezdrich did not deviate from the intended course. During the season, the repertoire was significantly "cleaned up", and seven performances were sent to the archive at once: "The Venetian Twins", "Fool", "Savage", "Mad Money", "Cyrano de Bergerac", "Rivals" and "Memorial Prayer" ... The change has become irreversible.

Before the start of the new season, Severny Kray took a long interview with the director of the theater Boris Mezdrich, in which he assessed the past two seasons and spoke about the prospects for the future. Speaking about the upcoming work, Boris Mezdrich stated unequivocally: "There will be no more 'Simple theater' ..."

In September, three puppet theaters from Japan performed on the stage of Volkovsky, and on September 30 the premiere of the play "The Devil's Dozen" took place. The play based on the stories of Arkady Averchenko was written by Olga Nikiforova, and the play was staged by Alexander Kuzin.

The XI International Volkovsky Festival was held from October 29 to November 7. The winners of the 2010 Fedor Volkov Government Prize of the Russian Federation were the Novosibirsk State Academic Drama Theater "Red Torch", the Khakass National Puppet Theater "Fairy Tale" (this was the second Volkov Prize received by the theater from Abakan, the first was awarded in 2003) and head of the Kazan Academic Russian Bolshoi Drama Theater named after V.I.Kachalov Alexander Slavutsky.

In April, Yaroslavl hosted the third festival of theater schools, The Future of Theater Russia, and the first events of the Konstantin Treplev Center took place on the chamber stage.

At the beginning of May, Volkovsky found a new director - he was the Honored Worker of Culture of Russia, Doctor of Pedagogy, Candidate of Economic Sciences, Professor Yuri Konstantinovich Itin.

The season ended on July 6 with a pre-premiere screening of the play "Tartuffe" staged by Alexander Kuzin.

After two previous turbulent seasons, which were notable for active work on the main stage, the 262nd season was, at first glance, a time of calm. So if in the 260th and 261st seasons twelve premieres were played on the main stage, then in the 262nd - only three, including the New Year's fairy tale. But on the chamber stage, where the International Center named after Konstantin Treplev began to work, creative life was literally in full swing.

The season opened on September 15, 2011 with Evgeny Marcelli's performance "Zoykina's Apartment". At the end of September, one hundred years have passed since the completion of construction and the opening of the building of the Volkovsky Theater - this anniversary was celebrated in a chamber atmosphere. On October 6, the premiere of "Tartuffe" by Alexander Kuzin took place. This performance was being prepared during the previous season and was completed at the beginning of July, but the public was only able to see it now. On October 18, the jubilee benefit performance of the People's Artist of Russia Natalia Ivanovna Terentyeva was brilliantly held on the big stage.

The twelfth Volkov festival took place from 3 to 12 November. The 2011 Russian Government Prize winners were the Omsk Academic Drama Theater, the Omnibus Theater from the city of Zlatoust and the Saratov Kiselev Youth Theater.

A unique event was the visit to Yaroslavl of the outstanding director Yuri Petrovich Lyubimov. He had not been in his homeland for several decades, so during this visit he not only got acquainted with Yaroslavl, but also visited Danilov, where his grandfather's house was preserved. Yuri Petrovich watched some of the festival's performances, and also took part in the opening after the renovation of the chamber stage, where on November 2 a retrospective showing of animated films directed by Alexander Petrov took place.

On December 10, on the main stage of the theater, the premiere of the play "Untitled" based on an early play by the young Chekhov "Fatherlessness" ("Platonov") staged by Yevgeny Marcelli took place. This work, along with Ekaterina Ivanovna, became the hallmark of the theater for the next two seasons and was nominated for the Golden Mask in three nominations. By the New Year, Vladimir Meisinger directed "Snow White" under the direction of Evgeny Marcelli, and in March the long-awaited premiere of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" took place.

The search for new forms continued on the chamber stage. In January, the premiere of Nekrasova Net took place, in February - the play Viy (play by Natalia Vorozhbit, director Semyon Serzin), then Yevgeny Marcelli released the play Two Poor Romanians Speaking Polish, based on the play by the Polish playwright Dorota Maslovska, in April was shown "Theatrical Blues" directed by Igor Esipovich. In April, the theater together with YAGTI held the 4th festival "The Future of Theater Russia". Both the premieres of the chamber stage and the performances of the festival were held in full halls, which was the answer to the question: does modern theater need "new forms"?

The theater's touring program was varied. In the first half of the season, the play "Ekaterina Ivanovna" was shown in Riga and St. Petersburg, "Three Sisters" - at the O. Yankovsky festival in Saratov. At the end of the season, the theater toured Baku ("Ekaterina Ivanovna", "Untitled", "Concert"), then the play "Viy" was shown in St. Petersburg at the All-Russian Festival-Laboratory of Young Directing "On-Theater" "- at the III International Theater Festival" Academy "in Omsk.

For almost the whole year, Eugene Marcelli worked on the play "House of Bernarda Alba", in July it was shown in private, but the premiere took place only in the next, 263rd season.

The theater began its 263rd season with a trip to Taganrog, where Yevgeny Marcelli's performance “Untitled” opened the program of the IX International Festival “In the Motherland of Chekhov”. And in Yaroslavl the season began with performances of the thirteenth International Volkov Festival.

In 2012, the Komi-Permyak Drama Theater named after M. Gorky from the city of Kudymkar, the chief director of the Perm theater "Near the Bridge" Sergei Fedotov and the chief director of the Krasnoyarsk Drama Theater named after A. Pushkin Oleg Rybkin became laureates of the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation named after Fedor Volkov.

In early October, the theater went on tour to Vilnius, where the Yaroslavl people showed "Ekaterina Ivanovna" and "Theater Blues". On November 8, within the framework of the II All-Russian Festival in memory of Oleg Yankovsky in Saratov, the play "Untitled" was performed. Then this performance was shown in Moscow at the VIII International Theater Festival "Stanislavsky's Season".

On October 26, the premiere of the play "House of Bernarda Alba" by Eugene Marcelli took place. On the small stage, Valery Kirillov released "The Finest Hour Local Time", Olga Toropova staged a play based on Katya Rubina's play "Babanya" with Tatyana Isaeva in the title role. For the New Year, Eugene Marcelli staged the fairy tale "Aladdin's Magic Lamp".

In the second half of the season, the main stage hosted the premieres of Talents and Admirers based on Ostrovsky directed by Alexander Kuzin and the black comedy by Juan Jose Alonso Millian Potassium Cyanide ... With or Without Milk, directed by Eugene Marcelli. The chamber stage staged the performances "North" by Semyon Serzin based on the play by Vyacheslav Durnenkov, the musical and poetic performance "Loving you ..." staged by Sergei Karpov.

The play "Untitled" was performed on the stage of the Moscow City Council Theater within the framework of the Golden Mask festival, where it was presented in three nominations: "Best drama performance in large form", "Drama - Director's work" - Evgeny Marcelli and "Best male role "- Vitaly Kishchenko.

And the loudest triumph of the Volkovsky Theater took place in April 2013 at the Golden Mask theater award ceremony. The main theatrical award of Russia was awarded to Yevgeny Marcelli's Untitled performance in the Best Large Form Drama Performance nomination, and Vitaly Kishchenko to the Best Actor nomination.

The name of Fyodor Volkov has been pleasing the audience with its performances for more than two centuries. It all started with a wooden barn, where the first performances took place. Today it is one of the most famous theaters in the country.

Theater history

The Volkov Theater was organized by the son of a merchant. Collected in it were people of different classes and professions. At first it was called "the theater of eager comedians". Fyodor Volkov is the very merchant son who founded the troupe.

In 1750, the amateur troupe grew into a professional one. The repertoire expanded, and instead of a tannery, a new building was built for the theater, which was designed for a thousand spectators.

Two years later, by order of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, Fyodor Volkov and his artists were transported to St. Petersburg.

But with the departure of the troupe, the theatrical life of the city continued to seethe. This was facilitated by the governor of the city - A. Melgunov. He patronized art. Shows of performances by amateur artists took place in his house.

In the 19th century, the greatest artists of that time toured in Yaroslavl - Mikhail Schepkin, V. Charsky, M. Ermolova, G. Svaina, V. Komissarzhevskaya and many other celebrities.

Many actors, who later became famous throughout the country, began their careers in Yaroslavl.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the theater was named after its founder - Fyodor Volkov. In 1909 it was decided to build a new building for it. Two years later, the new Volkovsky theater was inaugurated. His poster in those distant years offered the viewer mainly performances based on classical works. In the 30s, the repertoire was replenished with plays by Soviet playwrights, consonant with that time and those ideas.

During the war years, part of the troupe went to the front to defend their homeland, and the remaining artists supported the people and with their performances helped to survive during that difficult time. The repertoire has changed, and now it was based on works about war and patriotism.

1950 is a jubilee year for the theater. "Volkovites" celebrated the bicentennial. The jubilee was celebrated throughout the country.

Soon graduates from the capital's theater schools arrived. They joined the troupe, and now talented and promising young people worked alongside the stage masters.

In the 70-80s, the repertoire included works by Maxim Gorky, Chingiz Aitmatov, V. Yezhov. Psychological saturation and lyricism became the priorities in the performances.

At the end of the 20th century, the theater abandons academism and old traditions. In his performances, more conservative ways of the artists' existence in their images appear. The theater practically abandons its roots. It turns into a commercialized entertainment company. It happened on the initiative of the director Gleb Drozdov.

In the 90s, the theater reflected the catastrophic time of the collapse of the Soviet Union that was. During that difficult era, the theater was reformed several times and survived with great difficulty.

Today he lives and creates again. The troupe goes on tour and takes part in festivals. Experienced masters and young talented actors work here.

Building

The Volkov Theater has changed its place of residence several times. Its first building was located in the area near Ilyinskaya Square. To this day, information about how that room looked like has not survived.

The second building for the theater was built in 1819. How it looked is also unknown. It was located on Vlasyevskaya Square, which later turned into a theater, and then received the name of F. Volkov.

After a little over 20 years, the building was rebuilt for the first time. Then, 40 years later, it underwent a second reconstruction.

In 1911, according to the project of the architect Nikolai Spirin, a building was built, in which the theater is located today.

F. Volkov

The Volkov Theater bears the name of an outstanding Russian actor. He was a great man. It is he who is considered the founder of the Russian theater. Fyodor Grigorievich was a unique person. In addition to being a talented actor, he was also a musician, architect, director, woodcarver, stage machinist, artist, sculptor, and collected rare books. Fyodor Volkov was a merchant's son. He founded the theater in 1750. He himself was in it an artist, a director, and a keeper.

He invited different people to the troupe. Among them were office workers, artisans, seminarians, merchants, and office workers.

Performances at the F. Volkov Theater were held regularly. The artists were noticed by the executor Ignatiev, who came to Yaroslavl on business. Returning to the capital, he reported on the theater to the empress. She became interested in an amateur troupe. As a result, Fyodor Volkov and his artists went to work in St. Petersburg. They were trained and became the first professional troupe in Russia.

Performances

Volkovsky theater repertoire offers its audience a rather interesting repertoire.

Here you can see the following performances:

• "Two poor Romanians speaking Polish."
• "Babanya".
• "Tango. Etudes".
• "Khanuma".
• "Two funny love stories".
• "Opera of the Beggars".
• "A month in the village.
• "Untitled".
• "The Man and the Gentleman".
• "He didn't come back from the fight."
• "Talents and admirers".

Other.

Troupe

The actors of the Volkovsky Theater are drama masters, vocalists and ballet dancers.

• Ilya Varankin.
• Sergey Karpov.
• Oleg Novikov.
• Evgenia Dolgova.
• Evgeny Mundum.
• Elena Shevchuk.
• Kirill Iskratov.
• Irina Sidorova.
• Daniil Baranov.
• Natalia Kucherenko.
• Marina Timchenko.
• Nikolay Kudymov.

Other.

Festivals

Volkov Theater pleases its audience not only with performances. His poster invites the public to the festivals he organizes.

One of them is called the "International Volkovsky Festival". It has been held in the city for 16 years. It is ranked among the largest and most significant festivals in our country. It is attended by professional theater companies from different countries. Every year the leading theaters of Russia and abroad come to Yaroslavl. Within the framework of the festival, performances are shown, discussions, master classes, as well as the presentation of the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation.

The second festival, which is organized by the "Volkovites", is "The future of theatrical Russia." It is held for young people. The festival is attended by graduates of theatrical universities and secondary specialized educational institutions. Here they get the opportunity to show themselves, be noticed, get a job, fame. This festival is a great chance for young artists, stage designers, directors to arrange their lives and secure their future.