Description of the attraction
Litsedei is the first and only clownery theater in Russia. Its history began in 1969 with a meeting in the pantomime studio of the Palace of Culture. Lensovet, organized by R. E. Slavsky, V. Polunin, A. Skvortsov, N. Terentyev and A. Makeev. At that time the studio was headed by Eduard Rozinsky. In the same year, the public was presented with the premiere "Twenty-one short stories about the funny and the serious", in which V. Polunin, N. Terentyev, A. Skvortsov, A. Makeev, E. Rozinsky, T. Kurnina, T. Gerasimenko, V. Nepolainen et al.
The name of the theater "Litsedei" was invented one night by V. Polunin and A. Makeev. Under this name, in 1979 at the Experiment Theater under the direction of Viktor Kharitonov, the first performance of the same name was staged "Litsedei".
In the same 1979 the "Litsedeev" collective moved to the Leningrad Youth Palace, where they presented the play "Fantasies" to the audience. An important milestone in the history of the theater is the premiere of the play "Churdaki" in 1982. In the same year, the "Mim-Parade 82", the country's first pantomime festival, is organized at the Youth Palace. "Actors" are recognized as prize-winners, and R. Slavsky presents Polunin with the prize of the champion of all clowns of the USSR.
Having artistically reworked all the best from the genre of clownery and pantomime, the theater has formed its own unique stage style, which is at the junction of tragedy, pop and clownery. The basis of the style of the theater "Litsedei" is an unrestrained fantasy, a sea of joy, a childishly surprised perception of the world and endless wit.
Constantly taking part in entertaining and humorous TV programs, films, recording video clips, "Litsedei" introduced the genre of pantomime to Soviet and Russian viewers. Many people remember their numbers such as "Asisyay!" and "Blue Canary" (or "Blue-Blue-Blue-Canary …").
Only in 1989 the theater received an official status. By this time, A. Makeev and A. Skvortsov had already left the theater. And in 1991, with the departure of Vyacheslav Polunin to England, where he began his own creative career, the theater disintegrated, but the brand remained.
In the 90s, new performances appeared in the Litsedeev repertoire: Tek-shen, the stone man, Asisyay-revue, Small Olympics, Petrushka, Pictures at an Exhibition, Night on Bald Mountain …
During its existence, the theater "Litsedei" toured all of Russia, the countries of the former USSR, was enthusiastically received in the USA, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Hong Kong, Vietnam, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, Denmark, Netherlands, Japan, Austria, New Zealand, Switzerland, Finland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Poland, Israel, Luxembourg.
The unsurpassed talent of the theater actors, the originality and uniqueness of the genre they created were appreciated. The theater is a laureate of the Lenin Komsomol Prize, the Golden Ostap Festival, theater festivals in France, Germany, Holland, China and other countries.
The Litsedei Theater is located at 59 Tchaikovskogo Street and has at its disposal only a small rehearsal room with a small stage. Recently, the theater opened the "Chaplin-club" - a small club-restaurant, stylized as an old circus, on the stage of which both "Litsedei" themselves and the guests invited by them perform.
The theater's regular spectators are students of the correctional school No. 4, whom the theater regularly supplies with tickets for its performances.
On December 1, 2009, Litsedei opened their own theater at 9 Lev Tolstoy Street. The building for the theater took 10 years to build, taking into account all the technical innovations and unusual requirements necessary for clowning. Now the theater has both a large auditorium (for 404 seats) and a small stage (for 200 seats), as well as the Leikin Club, which is named after Leonid Leikin, an artist of the Litsedei theater and an outstanding master of clownery. All stages of the theater are equipped with the latest technology, have modern powerful light and sound, and can be transformed into multi-level stages.
Since 1997, the theater has been operating a school-studio "Lyceum Lyceum", which trains actors in the genre of pantomime and clownery. The training program includes the methods of various schools of clownery: from traditional classical to avant-garde and experimental, master classes of teachers and actors from different countries of the world are held here. Recruitment to the studio school is carried out once every three years. The main task of the school is to continue the traditions of clowning and pantomime in Russia, to train artists for the Litsedei theater.
