Description of the attraction
The Moscow Sovremennik Theater is located on Chistoprudny Boulevard in the Basmanny District of Moscow. The theater was founded by young like-minded actors, graduates of the Moscow Art Theater School. This happened in 1956. During the years of exposure of the personality cult of Stalin and the so-called "thaw". The Sovremennik Theater was the first to be born of free creative personalities. The group of organizers declared itself as an integral art collective.
The origins of Sovremennik were young actors who soon won the respect and immense popularity of the public. These are Oleg Efremov, Igor Kvasha, Galina Volchek, Evgeny Evstigneev, Victor Sergachev. In April 1956, the premiere of the play "Forever Alive" based on the play by V. Rozov took place. The audience experienced a real shock.
In the performances of Sovremennik, the leading role was played by the acting ensemble. The actors penetrated into the inner world of the heroes, into their psychology. The actors returned the "living person" to the stage. The audience recognized themselves in the heroes of the plays. For the first time in many decades, people came to the scene with problems and sorrows, with hopes and daily concerns. The task of the theater was "to speak with contemporaries, the language of modernity." This position was warmly received and supported by the public. Sovremennik has become a favorite theater of the intelligentsia and youth.
Until 1961, Sovremennik did not have its own building. The performances were held at different venues. In 1961, Sovremennik was given the building that had moved to the Moscow Variety Theater. The building was located on Mayakovsky Square.
The current Sovremennik building on Chistoprudny Boulevard was built in the first third of the twentieth century. The building was built by the architect Klein for the Colosseum cinema. The building is designed in the neoclassical style, with the inclusion of Art Nouveau elements. In 1974, after reconstruction, the building was handed over to Sovremennik. The theater hall is designed for 800 spectators.
In 2003, the Boulevard Ring business complex was added to the theater. The new "Another Stage" of the theater with a hall for two hundred seats is located on two floors of the eight-story building. The author of the interiors of the "Other Scene" was the artist Borovsky.
The rich history of theater has had its ups and downs. In the seventies, the theater went through a crisis. The thaw is over. It became difficult for the theater to work in accordance with its ideals. The troupe split. Oleg Efremov - founder and leader, left the theater. He accepted the invitation to head the Moscow Art Theater. Most of the leading actors also left.
But the theater continued to live. In 1972 the theater troupe voted for Galina Volchek to head the artistic direction of Sovremennik. A new generation of actors has joined the troupe. These are Marina Neyelova and Liya Akhedzhakova, Valentin Gaft and Avangard Leontyev.
Galina Volchek continues to work on contemporary plays. She attracts new authors to cooperation. Among them is Chingiz Aitmatov. The premiere of the play "Climbing Mount Fujiyama" based on the play by Aitmatov took place in 1973. The play showed that Sovremennik remained true to its civic position and artistic ideals. There are many well-known actors in the troupe of the theater: Elena Yakovleva, Galinga Petrova, Sergei Garmash, Maria Anikanova, Chulpan Khammatova, Olga Drozdova, Maxim Razuvaev, Sergei Yushkevich and others.
For thirty years the theater has been headed by director and actress Galina Volchek. Her name is associated with the theater's victories and failures. But the most important thing is that Sovremennik is, as it was intended, an ensemble of like-minded people.
