Description of the attraction
The Baltic House is the state theater of St. Petersburg, which has the status of a festival theater. On the basis of the theater, master classes, international forums, and performing arts festivals are held annually.
The history of the theater began in 1936, when a new State Theater named after the Lenin Komsomol was created in Leningrad on the basis of the Red Theater and the Theater of Working Youth. This theater was headed by V. Kozhich, and M. Chezhegov became the chief director. The theater of the Leninist Komsomol was mainly focused on the Leningrad youth.
1950-1956 the chief director of the theater was Georgy Tovstonogov. The performances staged by him were distinguished by their current themes and modern spirit, but at the same time they were based on the best traditions of Russian drama. Under the leadership of an outstanding director, a troupe of magnificent actors was selected at the Lenin Komsomol Theater. Such outstanding actors of our time as E. Lebedev, Y. Tolubeev, T. Doronina, V. Chestnokov, R. Bykov, O. Basilashvili, N. Urgant, N. Tenyakova, Y. Panich, A. Balter, L. Malevannaya, E. Vitorgan, O. Dahl and others.
The building occupied by the theater was built on the site of the former "People's House of Emperor Alexander III", the left wing of which burned down in 1932. The first project, by architect N. F. Demkova was sustained in the Leningrad avant-garde. But in those days, the Stalinist Empire style just came into vogue, and Demkov did not begin to make changes to his project and abandoned the project, which was completed by N. A. Miturich with V. P. Makashov. The construction of the theater building was completed in 1936.
In 1991, on the basis of the theater, it was decided to hold the festival "Baltic House", replacing the theater forum "Baltic Theater Spring", which ceased to exist due to the collapse of the Soviet Union. This direction in the activity of the theater is reflected in its name. In 1992 the theater was renamed into “Baltic House”, and in 2001 due to its rich experience in organizing international stage festivals it was awarded the status of “theater-festival”.
The theater has four stages: the Big one - for 870 seats, the Small one - for 100 seats, the Cellar and the 91st room. The Baltic House theater is equipped with devices for simultaneous translation. This makes it possible to host troupes showing performances in different languages.
Today several international competitions are held here. Among them: “Meetings in Russia”, “Baltic House”, “Director - Women's Profession”, “Monocle”, “Festival of Baltic Cultural Capitals”, “Balkan Theater Space”.
The peculiarity of the theater is that it conducts constant experimental work in the search for new forms of theatrical art and the improvement of theatrical skills.
Directors from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Europe, such as Igor Konyaev, Andrey Moguchy, Andrey Prikotenko, Henrik Baranovsky (from Poland), Riccardo Sottili and Marcello Bartoli (from Italy), Borislav Chakrinov (from Bulgaria), Andrey Zholdak (from Ukraine). Directors Stanislovas Rubinovas, Jonas Vaitkus, Raimundas Banionis, composer Faustas Latenas, actors Vladas Bagdonas, Elжbieta Latenaite, Regimantas Adomaitis, Juozas Budraitis collaborate with the theater in creating the performances.
The theater playbill is presented by both classical and modern repertoire. In addition to the performances of the main troupe of the theater, the theater Experimental Stage under the direction of A. Proudin and "Farsi" under the direction of V. Kramer present their performances on its stage. The theater is managed by Sergey Shub (general director) and V. A. Tykke (artistic director).
The theater is one of the founders of the Baltic House festival along with the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Committee for Culture and the Committee for External Relations of the St. Petersburg Administration, the "Branch of the Russian Federation STD", the Baltic International Festival Center. The festival is recognized as one of the most authoritative theater forums in Europe. The main program of the festival is presented, as a rule, with premieres.
Over the entire period of the festival, about 100 theaters from 30 countries took part in it. Such directors as O. Efremov, J.-P. Vincent, L. Dodin, K. Ginkas, Y. Lyubimov, O. Korshunovas, K. Marthaler, E. Nyakrosius, E. Nyuganen, T. Ostermeier, R. Tuminas, S. Purcarete, R. Sturua, P. Fomenko, V. Fokin, E. Yarotski, A. Hermanis, G. Yazhyna and others. The festival was awarded a UNESCO prize.
The Baltic House is a one-of-a-kind large-scale project that systematically works towards strengthening cultural ties between Russia and European countries.
