Alexandrinsky Theater
Encyclopedia
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
The Alexandrinsky Theatre rivals the Fyodor Volkov
Fyodor Volkov
Fyodor Grigorievich Volkov was a Russian actor and founder of the first permanent Russian theater.The stepson of merchant Polushkin from Kostroma, Fyodor Volkov received a versatile education. He established the very first public theater in Yaroslavl in 1750, which would later bring fame to the...
Theatre in Yaroslavl
Yaroslavl
Yaroslavl is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historical part of the city, a World Heritage Site, is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl Rivers. It is one of the Golden Ring cities, a group of historic cities...
as the oldest Russian national theatre. It was founded on 30 August 1756 by a Senate
Governing Senate
The Governing Senate was a legislative, judicial, and executive body of Russian Monarchs, instituted by Peter the Great to replace the Boyar Duma and lasted until the very end of the Russian Empire. It was chaired by the Ober-Procurator...
decree
Decree
A decree is a rule of law issued by a head of state , according to certain procedures . It has the force of law...
signed by Elizabeth of Russia to play Fonvizin, Lukin, Racine
Jean Racine
Jean Racine , baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine , was a French dramatist, one of the "Big Three" of 17th-century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition...
, Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
, Beaumarchais, Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
, and Derzhavin
Derzhavin
Derzhavin may refer to:* Gavrila Derzhavin, Russian poet and statesman* 23409 Derzhavin, minor planet...
.
Since 1832, the theatre has occupied an Empire-style building that Carlo Rossi
Carlo Rossi (architect)
Carlo di Giovanni Rossi, was an Italian architect, who worked the major portion of his life in Russia. He was the author of many classical buildings and architectural ensembles in Saint Petersburg and its environments...
designed. It was built in 1828-1832 on Alexandrinsky Square (now Ostrovsky Square), which is situated on Nevsky Prospekt
Nevsky Prospekt
Nevsky Avenue |Prospekt]]) is the main street in the city of St. Petersburg, Russia. Planned by Peter the Great as beginning of the road to Novgorod and Moscow, the avenue runs from the Admiralty to the Moscow Railway Station and, after making a turn at Vosstaniya Square, to the Alexander...
between the Russian State Library
Russian State Library
The Russian State Library is the national library of Russia, located in Moscow. It is the largest in the country and the third largest in the world for its collection of books . It was named the V. I...
and Anichkov Palace
Anichkov Palace
Anichkov Palace is a former imperial palace in Saint Petersburg, at the intersection of Nevsky Avenue and the Fontanka.-History:The palace, situated on the plot formerly owned by Antonio de Vieira, takes its name from the nearby Anichkov Bridge across the Fontanka...
. The theatre and the square were named after Empress consort Alexandra Feodorovna. The building is part of the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments
Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments
Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments is the name used by UNESCO when it collectively designated the historic core of the Russian city of St...
.
The premières of numerous Russian plays have been performed at the stage of the Alexandrinsky, including plays by Alexandr Griboyedov
Alexandr Griboyedov
Aleksander Sergeyevich Griboyedov was a Russian diplomat, playwright, poet, and composer. He is recognized as homo unius libri, a writer of one book, whose fame rests on the brilliant verse comedy Woe from Wit , still one of the most often staged plays in Russia...
, Alexander Ostrovsky, and Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
. Famous directors who have staged work there include Vsevolod Meyerhold
Vsevolod Meyerhold
Vsevolod Emilevich Meyerhold was a great Russian and Soviet theatre director, actor and theatrical producer. His provocative experiments dealing with physical being and symbolism in an unconventional theatre setting made him one of the seminal forces in modern international theatre.-Early...
, Grigori Kozintsev
Grigori Kozintsev
Grigori Mikhaylovich Kozintsev was a Jewish Ukrainian, Soviet Russian theatre and film director. He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1964.He studied in the Imperial Academy of Arts...
, Georgy Tovstonogov
Georgy Tovstonogov
Georgy Alexandrovich Tovstonogov was a Russian theatre director, the leader of Saint Petersburg Bolshoi Academic Theatre of Drama , which now bears his name.-Biography:...
, and Nikolay Akimov
Nikolay Akimov
Nikolay Pavlovich Akimov was an experimental theatre director and scenic designer noted for his work with the Leningrad Comedy Theatre. His most notorious production was the cynical version of Hamlet , with Ophelia as a drunken prostitute and the king's ghost as a clever mystification arranged by...
.
On 30 August 2006 the theatre reopened after reconstruction.
External links
- Official Web Site in English
- History of the Theatre in English
- 3D model “Alexandrinsky Theater” for Google Earth