In 1956, chief director and artistic director Georgy Tovstonogov was appointed to the theater. Under him, the BDT became an author's director's theater, known throughout the world, and the best dramatic stage in the USSR. In the performances Tovstonogov was played by Tatyana Doronina and Sergei Yursky, Innokenty Smoktunovsky and Zinaida Sharko, Evgeny Lebedev and Valentina Kovel, Oleg Basilashvili and Svetlana Kryuchkova, Vladislav Strzhelchik, Pavel Luspekayev, Oleg Borisov, Nikolai Trofimov, Efim Kopelyan, Kirill Lavrov and many other wonderful actors . In those years the theater toured a lot. In a situation of confrontation between two political systems, the regime “ iron curtain", BDT was a cultural link between East and West. After Tovstonogov's death in 1989 art direction was received by People's Artist of the USSR Kirill Lavrov, followed by director Temur Chkheidze. Since 1992, the theater began to bear the name of Georgy Alexandrovich Tovstonogov.

In 2013, director Andrei Moguchiy, one of the leaders of the theater avant-garde, became the artistic director of the BDT. Under the leadership of Moguchy, the BDT regained recognition from the public and critics and became one of the main theatrical newsmakers in the country. In December 2015, the theater was awarded by experts from the Russian Association of Theater Critics “For building a new artistic strategy for the Bolshoi Drama Theatre.”

The creative credo of the BDT is an open dialogue on topics relevant to modern society. Every performance, every project of the new BDT addresses the problems of a person of his time.

The Bolshoi Drama Theater's productions involve artists of all generations of the troupe - from very young trainee actors to leading stage masters, such as People's Artist of the USSR Alisa Freindlikh, People's Artist of Russia and Ukraine Valery Ivchenko, folk artists Russia Svetlana Kryuchkova, Irute Vengalite, Marina Ignatova, Elena Popova, folk artists Russia Gennady Bogachev, Valery Degtyar, Honored Artists of Russia Anatoly Petrov, Vasily Reutov, Andrey Sharkov, Honored Artist of Russia Maria Lavrova and others. Every season, BDT's performances become laureates of the country's main theater awards, including the national theater award "Golden Mask".

Since 2013, at the BDT named after G.A. Tovstonogov there is a large-scale educational program"The Age of Enlightenment". These are lectures, concerts, exhibitions, round tables dedicated to current creative issues, meetings with people who create modern theater, as well as excursions around the museum and behind the scenes of the theater, original programs dedicated to the history of the BDT. An important direction of the “Era of Enlightenment” is the “BDT Pedagogical Laboratory” - directors, actors, theater critics and teachers train teachers of secondary schools and kindergartens in St. Petersburg to introduce modern theatrical language and stage techniques into the school educational program.

In 2015, the BDT became the first Russian repertory drama theater to permanently include the inclusive play “The Language of Birds” in its playbill, created in collaboration with the Center for Creativity, Education and Social Habilitation for adults with autism “Anton Is Near”. Along with professional actors, people with autism spectrum disorder play in this performance.

At the Bolshoi Drama Theater named after G.A. Tovstonogov three scenes. The Main Stage (750 seats) and the Small Stage (120 seats) are located in a historical building at 65 Fontanka Embankment, erected in 1878 by the architect Ludwig Fontana commissioned by Count Anton Apraksin. The second stage of the Bolshoi Drama Theater (300 seats) is located on the Old Theater Square, 13, in the building of the Kamennoostrovsky Theater, the oldest surviving wooden theater Russia, built by the architect Smaragd Shustov by order of Emperor Nicholas I in 1827. Every season, these three venues host at least 5 premieres and more than 350 performances.

In fact, these three milestones indicate the most significant periods in the life of the theater, born of revolution. Since 1920 it has occupied the building of the former Suvorinsky Theater on Fontanka. Before the revolution, the St. Petersburg Maly Theater was located here, where at the turn of the century the troupe of the Literary and Artistic Society worked. Since the main shareholder, unofficial artistic director, and also its ideologist was the publisher of the newspaper “Novoe Vremya” A.S. Suvorin, St. Petersburg residents called the theater Suvorinsky. From time to time, the life of the theater, sparse in artistic events, was illuminated by creative discoveries. So, for the first premiere of the theater it was staged by E. Karpov Power of darkness L.N. Tolstoy, with P. Strepetova in the role of Matryona. Performances with the participation of P. Orleneva, an actor who created a new role of “neurasthenic”. Studied at the theater school M. Chekhov, accepted after training at the Suvorin Theater and successfully worked there before entering the Moscow Art Theater in 1912. After the death of K.Yu. Lavrov in 2007, to the position of Artistic Director of the Bolshoi Drama Theater. G.A. Tovstonogov was appointed T.N. Chkheidze.

THEATER BORN OF A REVOLUTION

Actually real story BDT starts after October Revolution. Opened new theater February 15, 1919 performance Don Carlos F. Schiller indoors Great Hall conservatory. The first theater of Soviet dramatic art was conceived as a theater of heroic repertoire, large-scale images, “great tears and great laughter” (Blok). Born of a heroic era, he was supposed to convey its special greatness. It was supposed to be a theater of "heroic tragedy, romantic drama And high comedy" The main ideological inspirer of the new theater was M. Gorky. In the first years they placed mainly classical plays, which emphasized tyrant-fighting, freedom-loving motives. Major actors joined the troupe N.F.Monakhov, V.V. Maksimov, moved from Petrogradsky for several years State Theater dramas (Akdram) Yu.M.Yuryev, main romantic prime minister Alexandrinskaya stage. The main director was A.M. Lavrentyev, who staged the following productions: Don Carlos (1919), Othello And King Lear W. Shakespeare (1920). Performances were also staged by N.V. Petrov ( Twelfth Night Shakespeare, 1921; Ruy Blaz V.Hugo, 1921), B.M.Sushkevich ( Robbers Schiller, 1919), A.M. Benois ( Servant of two masters K.Goldoni and A reluctant doctor Moliere, 1921), R.V. Boleslavsky ( Tattered Cloak S. Benelli, 1919). Artists A.N.Benoit , M.V.Dobuzhinsky, V.A. Shchuko and composers B.V. Asafiev , Yu.A. Shaporin in close contact with directors, they sought to adhere to the traditions of stage romanticism. In the early 1920s, dramas by German expressionists appeared in the repertoire of the Bolshoi Drama Theater, which were embodied by K.P. Khokhlov in an urban spirit, in a constructivist design - Gas G. Kaiser (1922, artist Yu.P. Annenkov), Virgin forest E. Toller (1924, artist N.P. Akimov). Aesthetically related to these productions was the play Riot of machines A.N. Tolstoy (adaptation of the play by K. Capek R.U.R.., 1924, artist Annenkov).

Of great importance for the fate of the theater was the recruitment of poet A.A. Blok to the position of chairman of the BDT Directory.

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

THE THEATER IS CLOSING TO MODERNITY

The most serious performances of that period are associated with the work of K.K. Tverskoy, who usually worked with the artist M.Z. Levin; Among them, productions of plays by modern authors became important - Mutiny(1925) and Fault B.A. Lavreneva (1927), Man with a briefcase A.M.Fayko (1928), Windy City V.M. Kirshon (1929), My friend N.F. Pogodina (1932). From the mid-1920s, Soviet plays began to define the repertoire of the Bolshoi Drama Theater. Following the times, the theater for the first time tried to bring Romance closer to reality, to combine heroic pathos with a specific living environment. The theater troupe formed strong acting personalities: O.G. Kaziko, V.T. Kibardina, A.I. Larikov, V.P. Politseymako, K.V. Skorobogatov, V.Ya. Sofronov.

In the year of production Rift, K.S.Stanislavsky During the Leningrad tour of the Moscow Art Theater he wrote on a portrait donated to the BDT: “Your theater is one of those few that know that the revolution in art is not only in external form, but in its internal essence...”.

For many actors, participation in Gorky’s plays was a turning point. Gorky's plays were a significant success Egor Bulychev and others(1932, directed by K.K. Tverskoy and V.V. Lyutse) and Dostigaev and other(1933, directed by Lutze). It was no coincidence that the name of Gorky was given to the theater. Deviation from Gorky's laws of dramaturgy, which always presupposed clarity of thought, clarity of ideological position, brightness of characters, irreconcilable conflict and special theatricality, almost every time led the theater to failure.

G.A. TOVSTONOGOV COMES TO THE THEATER

After Tverskoy left, a difficult time began in the theater. Artistic directors changed frequently: 1934 – V.F. Fedorov, 1936–1937 – A.D. Dikiy , 1939–1940 – B.A.Babochkin, 1940–1944 – L.S. Rudnik. In an atmosphere of aesthetic unpretentiousness and multidirectional quests, only a few performances became noteworthy events in stage art: Bourgeois Gorky (1937, director Dikiy); Summer residents Gorky (1939) and Tsar Potap A.A. Kopkova (1940 - both directed by Babochkin); King Lear Shakespeare (1941, director G.M.Kozintsev). In the first years of the great Patriotic War The theater worked in Kirov, in 1943 it returned to Leningrad and continued to work under the blockade, serving the troops of the Leningrad Front and hospitals.

The creative crisis of the BTC, which emerged in the mid-1930s, post-war years worsened. Artistic directors stayed in the theater only for a short time: 1946–1950 – N.S. Rashevskaya, 1951–1952 – I.S. Efremov, 1952–1954 – O.G. Kaziko, 1954–1955 – K.P. Khokhlov. The introduction into the repertoire of numerous thematically relevant, but artisanal, and sometimes outright false plays led to a decrease artistic level performances, acting, loss of viewership. In 1956, G.A. Tovstonogov, who had 25 years of fruitful experience in various theaters (Tbilisi, Moscow, Leningrad), became the main director of the theater. His arrival coincided with the “thaw” - the revival public life countries after the XX Congress of the CPSU. IN short term Tovstonogov brought the theater out of crisis, turning the disorganized troupe into a cohesive team capable of successfully solving the most complex creative problems. Decisive in the theater policy of the chief director was the renewal of the troupe and the choice of repertoire. To regain the viewer’s trust, Tovstonogov begins with unassuming, but lively and recognizable plays ( Sixth floor A. Zheri, When does acacia bloom? N. Vinnikova). Talented youth are actively involved in these productions, who soon became the basis of the renewed team (K. Lavrov, L. Makarova, T. Doronina, Z. Sharko). They brought to the stage a living breath of truth, open lyrical hearts, and genuinely sincere voices of our time. Liberated by the spiritual atmosphere of their time, the young actors, together with the director, affirmed a new hero - outwardly not at all heroic, but close to everyone in the audience, glowing inner beauty and talent for humanity. Productions of works of modern drama – Five evenings(1959, in the center of which is an unusually subtle duet of E. Kopelyan and Z. Charko), My older sister(1961 with the brilliant T. Doronina and E. Lebedev) A.M. Volodin, and Irkutsk history A.N. Arbuzov (1960) - walked in parallel with careful work over Russian classics, in which the director heard, first of all, the nerve of today. Performances Idiot according to F.M. Dostoevsky (1957 and 1966), Barbarians Gorky (1959), Woe from mind A.S. Griboyedova (1962), Three sisters A.P. Chekhov (1965), Bourgeois Gorky (1966, USSR State Prize, 1970) became major events in the spiritual life of society and determined the leading position of the BDT in the domestic performing arts. Of particular interest was the form of “performance-novel” that has developed in the BDT, which is characterized by thoroughness and subtlety psychological analysis character behavior, enlarged images, close attention to inner life all characters.

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

Event in theatrical life the country has become a production Idiot with I. Smoktunovsky in leading role. A performance in which the director’s innovative style was especially clearly manifested: elusive in its diversity on the one hand, and external discreetness on the other. The director creates through the actor, together with the actor, and reveals their individuality, often unexpectedly for them (O. Basilashvili, V. Strzhelchik, O. Borisov).

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

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

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

The revolutionary themes of the performances were read and understood in a new way Death of the squadron A. Korneychuk, Optimistic tragedy V. Vishnevsky, staged repeatedly, in different times, and also Reading again M. Shatrova (1980), where a simple person who finds himself in the face of History is carefully examined, without false pathos.

The characteristic slow development of Tovstonogov’s “performance-novels” ( Barbarians And Bourgeois; Virgin soil upturned according to M.A. Sholokhov, 1964, etc.) gradually brought actors and spectators to stormy, “explosive” climax moments.

In the 1970s, the director continued his theatrical searches, staging an epic novel in the field of great prose Quiet Don with O. Borisov in the role of Grigory - central figure a performance that eclipsed all other faces who have lost their scale in this system. The epic performance considered Gregory as tragic hero, who has no personal guilt before the fate of History. The director’s “novel” productions have always been accompanied by such a quality as polyphony.

But BDT was no stranger to cheerful, mischievous comedy. Viewers of the 1970s will long remember the festive, light-winged Hanuma A. Tsagareli (1972), staged with special lyricism, grace and brilliant acting by L. Makarova, V. Strzhelchik, N. Trofimov. The experience of a special “Vakhtangov” reading, with its open play the theater was successfully mastered by the director in Wolves and sheep A.N. Ostrovsky (1980), the opera-farce of A.N. Kolker sounded sharply tragicomic grotesque Death of Tarelkin according to A.V. Sukhovo-Kobylin (1982), who revealed the great potential of BDT actors in the field of open theatricality (acting works by E. Lebedev, V. Kovel, S. Kryuchkova, etc.). The comedic skills of the artists were honed both on the material modern play (Energetic people according to V. Shukshin, 1974), and in dramatization Pickwick Club according to Charles Dickens, 1978).

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

THEATER NAMED AFTER G.A. TOVSTONOGOV

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

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

In the modern BDT, many of G.A. Tovstonogov’s performances continue to be staged, which are not only preserved, but live a full life.

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

Ekaterina Yudina

In the autumn of 1918 in Petrograd, on the initiative of the writer Maxim Gorky, the poet Alexander Blok and the Moscow Art Theater actress Maria Andreeva, the Bolshoi drama theater. The repertoire policy of the theater was determined by its first artistic director, Alexander Blok:“The Bolshoi Drama Theater is, by design, a theater of high drama: high tragedy and high comedy.”The special aesthetics and style of the BDT were formed under the influence of the architect Vladimir Shchuko and artists from the World of Art association: Alexander Benois, Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Boris Kustodiev - the first set designers of the theater.

On February 15, 1919, the premiere took place: the tragedy of F. Schiller “Don Carlos” was staged by director Andrei Lavrentyev. Among the directors of the Bolshoi Drama Theater in the following years: Meyerhold’s student Konstantin Tverskoy, Nemirovich-Danchenko’s student Nikolai Petrov, artist from the World of Art Alexander Benois, the famous Chapaev from the film of the same name - actor Boris Babochkin. From 1932 to 1992, the BDT bore the name of its founder, Maxim Gorky.

In 1956, Georgy Tovstonogov was appointed chief director and artistic director of the theater. Under him, the BDT became an author's director's theater, known throughout the world, and the best dramatic stage in the USSR. In the performances Tovstonogov was played by Tatyana Doronina and Sergei Yursky, Innokenty Smoktunovsky and Zinaida Sharko, Evgeny Lebedev and Valentina Kovel, Oleg Basilashvili and Svetlana Kryuchkova, Vladislav Strzhelchik, Pavel Luspekayev, Oleg Borisov, Nikolai Trofimov, Efim Kopelyan, Kirill Lavrov and many other wonderful actors . In those years the theater toured a lot. In a situation of confrontation between two political systems, the “Iron Curtain” regime, the BDT was a cultural link between East and West. After Tovstonogov's death in 1989, People's Artist of the USSR Kirill Lavrov took over the artistic direction, followed by director Temur Chkheidze. Since 1992, the theater began to bear the name of Georgy Alexandrovich Tovstonogov.

In 2013, director Andrei Moguchy, one of the leaders of the theater avant-garde, became the artistic director of the BDT. Under the leadership of Moguchy, the BDT regained recognition from the public and critics and became one of the main theatrical newsmakers in the country. In December 2015, the theater was awarded by experts from the Russian Association of Theater Critics “For building a new artistic strategy for the Bolshoi Drama Theater.”

The creative credo of the BDT is an open dialogue on topics relevant to modern society. Every performance, every project of the new BDT addresses the problems of a person of his time.

The productions of the Bolshoi Drama Theater involve artists of all generations of the troupe - from very young actors of the trainee group to leading stage masters, such as People's Artist of the USSR Alisa Freindlikh, People's Artist of Russia and Ukraine Valery Ivchenko, People's Artists of Russia Svetlana Kryuchkova, Irute Vengalite, Marina Ignatova, Elena Popova, People's Artists of Russia Gennady Bogachev, Valery Degtyar, Honored Artists of Russia Anatoly Petrov, Vasily Reutov, Andrey Sharkov, Honored Artist of Russia Maria Lavrova and others.Every season, BDT's performances become laureates of the country's main theater awards, including the national theater award "Golden Mask".

Since 2013, the Bolshoi Drama Theater named after G. A. Tovstonogov has had a large-scale educational program “The Age of Enlightenment.” These include lectures, concerts, exhibitions, round tables devoted to current creative issues, meetings with people who create modern theater, as well as excursions around the museum and behind the scenes of the theater, original programs dedicated to the history of the BDT. An important direction of the “Era of Enlightenment” is the “BDT Pedagogical Laboratory” - directors, actors, theater critics and teachers train teachers of secondary schools and kindergartens in St. Petersburg to introduce modern theatrical language and stage techniques into the school educational program. In 2015, the BDT became the first Russian repertory drama theater to permanently include the inclusive play “The Language of Birds” in its playbill, created in collaboration with the Center for Creativity, Education and Social Habilitation for adults with autism “Anton Is Near”. Along with professional actors, people with autism spectrum disorder play in this performance.

The Bolshoi Drama Theater named after G. A. Tovstonogov has three stages. The Main Stage (750 seats) and the Small Stage (120 seats) are located in a historical building at 65 Fontanka Embankment, erected in 1878 by the architect Ludwig Fontana commissioned by Count Anton Apraksin. The second stage of the Bolshoi Drama Theater (300 seats) is located on the Old Theater Square, 13, in the building of the Kamennoostrovsky Theater, the oldest surviving wooden theater in Russia, built by the architect Smaragd Shustov by order of Emperor Nicholas I in 1827. Each season, these three venues host at least five premieres and more than 350 performances.

The Russian State Academic Bolshoi Drama Theater (BDT) is one of the first Soviet theaters. The prefix “named after G.A. Tovstonogov” he received in honor of his leader - the famous director Georgy Tovstonogov.

Theater of Big Names

Before this, the theater bore the name of M. Gorky and was called the Leningrad Academic Bolshoi Drama Theater. Actually, thanks to Maxim Gorky, the theater was organized in 1919; the basis of his troupe were the artists of the Theater artistic drama, created a year earlier. In 1920, the theater received a building on Fontanka, and remains there to this day. An interesting fact: the first performance of the theater - “Don Carlos” based on Schiller’s play - lasted for five whole hours; the premiere took place in winter, in mid-February, in the frost, and the building was not heated - but the audience willingly spent the whole evening in the hall. What was happening on stage was so exciting! And this is not surprising. After all, throughout its existence, the charisma of the Bolshoi Dramatic Theater was based on the bright energy prominent figures Russian culture. Many big names are associated with this theater. In 1919, poet Alexander Blok was appointed chairman of the artistic council. Maxim Gorky continued to take the most ardent part in the fate of the theater. This cultural platform was intended to become a source of heroic pathos, revolutionary ideology, majestic passions that are not limited to the fate of one person, but capture the fate of many. In those years, the repertoire of the Bolshoi Drama Theater was based on a revolutionary program. It consisted of works of world drama that corresponded to heroic sentiments: Shakespeare's tragedies, Hugo's dramas, plays by Merezhkovsky and Bryusov. But the fate of the theater turned out to be changeable. By various reasons- political or personal - talented directors did not stay there for long, the team remained without a leader for a long time, without a strong hand, the theater gradually lost popularity... And only in 1956 did it begin new era: the outstanding and successful director Georgy Tovstonogov joined the team, he is very demanding on the quality of acting, setting the highest standard in his work. For more than 30 years, the fate of the theater was decided: the popularity and love of the audience returned to it.

According to the most stringent criteria of stage quality

The most important criterion for an actor's skill in the theater remains the intellectual level and ability to improvise. This is what has made the Bolshoi Drama troupe one of the strongest theater groups in the world for decades. “Trained” by the strict director Tovstonogov, the actors passed on to new generations the tradition of being demanding of themselves and impeccable smart game. In the 90s, after the death of the main director, the theater again found itself “in search”; it was temporarily headed by Kirill Lavrov, who then transferred the leadership to director Temur Chkheidze. Changes affected the Bolshoi Drama Theater in 2011-2014: like many other theaters at this time, it underwent technical restoration. Critics, and many spectators, feared that after the reconstruction the theater would no longer be the same - its ideology and philosophy would also change... But the very first performance - “Alice” based on the works of L. Carroll with Alice Freundlich in the title role - became the owner of the highest theatrical award. St. Petersburg "Golden Sofit" award in the categories " Best Performance" and "Best female role" It is impossible to buy tickets to the Bolshoi Drama Theater on the day of the performance - after all, this is one of the most popular stage venues, historical and cultural center, for which they prepare in advance for a visit...