Description of the attraction
The theater "Na Liteyny" traces its history back to the Regional Theater of Drama and Comedy, which opened its first season on May 5, 1945 with the production of "The Seagull" by A. Chekhov. The theater troupe did not then have its own premises, and the working conditions were very satisfactory. And in the annual plans of the theater there were many visiting performances. Together, this made it difficult to maintain the proper level of performance. Only in 1956 a house appeared at the Regional Theater in the building of the Liteiny Theater, formed in 1909 on the site of the former arena of Count Sheremetyev.
Since its inception, the Na Liteyny Theater has established a reputation as a theater of strong sensations. There were staged performances of the French "Theater of Horrors" ("Grand Guignol"), pantomimes, satirical performances, European farces. The troupe often changed entrepreneurs, however, despite this, the spirit of carefree acting and fun was preserved.
On the stage of the theater "On Liteiny", the first productions of the then only beginning directors Nikolai Evreinov and Vsevolod Meyerhold, choreographer Mikhail Fokin, played the most famous actors of the early 20th century: Olga Glebova-Sudeikina, Fedor Kurikhin, Boris Gorin-Goryainov, artists Boris Kustodiev Bilibin, Lev Bakst, poet Mikhail Kuzmin.
After the October Revolution, the building of the theater was transferred to the 1st studio of Proletkult, then to the mobile collective farm and state farm theater, the red-boned TRAM and the troupe of the Leningrad Regional Council of Trade Unions.
In 1956, the Regional Drama and Comedy Theater, which came here, shared one stage with other theater groups for ten years.
In the mid-1960s, Yakov Hamarmer became the main director of the theater. He led the troupe for 20 years. In general, the theater did not reach any heights, but nevertheless it became a noticeable and important phenomenon in the history of the city, thanks to plays that were not staged on the stage of other theaters in Leningrad.
In the 1970s-1980s, the Bolshoi Drama Theater enjoyed tremendous success among Leningraders and residents of the USSR, the ideological inspirer and director of which was Georgy Tovstonogov. His works were a kind of benchmark for both the audience and the censors. Any deviation from it was considered sedition. Therefore, many talented directors were then out of work.
J. Hamarmer stubbornly and persistently demanded permission from the authorities to stage performances in his theater for young directors. This was a very bold move. The performances of many novice directors have become outstanding events in the theatrical life of the country.
In the late 1980s, the general crisis of the country and theaters, including, did not escape the theater "On Liteiny". After the death of J. Hamarmer, V. Golikov was at the head of the theater for some time, then in 1991 - G. Trostyanetsky, with whose arrival a new era of life began for the theater. Then the official new name of the theater appeared - "On Liteiny". The repertoire has been completely changed. There were performances reminiscent of the bygone, pre-revolutionary theater "Na Liteiny" - extravaganzas, pantomimes. The first production by Trostyanetsky stunned the audience - the farce "The Miser" was overflowing with the most complicated tricks. Now it is impossible to imagine the theatrical life of the city on the Neva in the 1990s without the performances of this master. During a short period of work in the theater "On Liteiny" Gennady Trostyanetsky laid the "foundation" of the new theater.
The new artistic director of the theater "Na Liteynom" Alexander Getman continues the tradition of supporting the author's direction. Performances of directors such as V. Pazi, A. Galibin, G. Kozlov, G. Tskhvirava, Y. Butusov and others are successfully staged on the stage of the theater.
The troupe of the theater "Na Liteiny" has successfully toured Germany, Poland, USA, Czech Republic, Yugoslavia.
