Description of the attraction
Regional drama theater named after M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University is located on Lenin Square in the city of Arkhangelsk. At the beginning of its existence, it was called the Arkhangelsk Bolshoi Drama Theater. It was created on the site of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in the former Cathedral Square in 1932. It was built very quickly: in just 8 months. The first performance was the staging of M. Gorky's play At the Bottom.
Ivan Alekseevich Rostovtsev was the first theater director. In 1933, on his initiative, a theater school was opened in Arkhangelsk, and it was he who formed the first acting troupe of the theater. In the 30s of the XX century, on the stage of the theater one could see such artists as S. I. Bestuzhev, V. A. Sokolovsky, N. F. Shelekhov, A. I. Svirsky and others. The repertoire of the first theatrical seasons consisted of works of Russian and foreign classics, Soviet drama.
In 1937, the Bolshoi Drama Theater took part in the republican review of Gorky's performances in Moscow. The performances "The Last" and "Summer Residents" brought great success to the Arkhangelsk Theater and public recognition. And the actors S. I. Bestuzhev, G. A. Belov and A. I. Svirsky received the title of Honored Artists of the RSFSR.
During the Great Patriotic War, theater artists worked in wartime conditions. Along with rehearsals and performances, they gave concerts in military units and helped the front: they collected warm clothes and funds for defense resources and for the Soviet Artist aircraft unit. Many theater workers went to the front, but at the same time new actors appeared in the troupe: S. Lukyanov, S. Plotnikov and others. During these years, the theater's repertoire was dominated by performances on historical and patriotic themes. Military performances remained in the theatrical repertoire for a long time (even after the war), but, nevertheless, the classics were in the first place.
In 1945, director N. K. Tepper. Later, in different years, this position was occupied by N. A. Smirnov, V. S. Terentyev, directors V. P. Davydov, V. P. Kupetsky, B. P. Second, E. S. Simonyan and others. In the 50s, the creative staff of the theater was renewed, and the leading actors were B. Gorshenin, S. Plotnikov, K. Kulagina, M. Kornilov and others.
In 1960, the theater was renamed in honor of Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov. A year later, on the 250th anniversary of Lomonosov, the theater staged a play by local author I. Chudinov "The Son of the Pomor". The great scientist was played by 2 actors S. Plotnikov and A. Serezhkin. In 1964, within three years, the reconstruction of the theater was organized. They put in order the theatrical facade (it was redone and made of glass and concrete), the auditorium, stage and backstage rooms.
In the 70s, a great event took place in the life of the theater and Arkhangelsk: the novels by F. Abramov "Pelageya" and "Alka" and the novel "Two winters and three summers" were staged. And in the 80s the theater staged other works of this author: the prose "House" and "Crossroads." The northern theme was very popular with the audience. In the 80s, Eduard Simonyan was the director and artistic director of the theater. This period is characterized by large-scale performances of V. Rasputin's stories "Live and Remember" (directed by V. Kazakov) and "Farewell to Matera" (directed by E. Simonyan). Vladimir Kazakov played the main role in them. There were also staged the modern novel by Y. Semyonov "TASS is authorized to declare", the novel by A. Rybakov "Children of the Arbat", the comedy by A. Ostrovsky "Truth is good, but happiness is better" and many others. A strong and interesting work on the stage was the acting of V. Kazakov, L. Bynova, N. Voytyuk, B. Gorshenina, S. Nevostrueva, T. Goncharova, K. Kulagina and others.
In the 90s, the theater's creative troupe was replenished with young talented artists: S. Churkin, A. Dunaev, E. Smorodinova, N. Latukhina, T. Bochenkova and many others.
In the early 2000s, the theater building was closed for reconstruction. Its long-term implementation was explained by the lack of financial resources. In 2007, the facade of the building was fenced with scaffolding and financial investments increased. At this time, the theater collective performs on the Small Stage of the Drama Theater (formerly the Big Hall of the Pomor Philharmonic). In the summer of 2009, reconstruction work was completed. Now the Arkhangelsk Regional Drama Theater named after M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University is one of the most modern stage ensembles in Russia and has the ability to host artists of any genre and level.
