Academic Theater of the Russian Army: Hall layout, repertoire, reviews

Moscow is full of unique attractions, each of which is worthy of a separate enthusiastic story. The Theater of the Russian Army is unique in its kind in many ways. Nowhere in the world is there a theater of such rank that would be connected with the army indissolubly.

It's not an army ensemble or a visiting team with a thematic repertoire, it's one of the great institutions of its kind in the world. Its status is peculiar: it is a departmental theater of the Armed Forces, and many actors on its stage in the full sense of the word served. Before the war in the system of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR there were several such theaters related to certain regions of Russia, they were called the theaters of the Red Army.

Unique army - unique theater

The Theater of the Russian Army, a hall in which a large stage is located (some compare it to a football field), are the largest in the capital. The only one of its kind is the theater building. And it's not just that the stage of multi-storey building is the largest in Europe, the very form of this structure is unique: the building at the base is a star. The scheme of the theater hall of the Russian Army is placed further in the article. The magnificent structure is located so that all five beams are directed to some significant places - the center of the capital, Komsomolskaya square and the three largest transport hubs - Savelovsky, Riga and Belorussky stations. And of course, the unique building is surrounded by legends. One of them says that the German bombers really wanted to bomb the star, as they would say now, visible from outer space.

The Birth of the Theater

The theater of the Russian Army (or rather, its troupe) was formed in 1929 from amateur army groups, gradually diluted by professional actors and directors. The date of birth of the TSATRA is February 6, 1930. On this day the performance "KVZHD" was staged.

Maybe, because already in 1930, the artistic director of the theater with the light hand of the director Vladimir Meskheteli becomes Yury Zavadsky, the theater acquired the reputation of a highly professional institution. The best director and director at that time picked up a talented troupe and a wonderful repertoire. The theater of the Russian Army (then the Red Army) is quickly becoming a favorite place for Muscovites and visitors to the capital.

Skillful leadership

This institution has always been lucky with the art directors, thanks to which the level of stage productions given by Zavadsky never went down, and the performances, surprising and shocking the audience, became legends, according to which, taking into account their popularity, films were filmed, for example, "Dance Teacher" with the legendary Vladimir Zeldin. And the 3D musical "Paul Negri", opening the 85th season, is not it worth the surprise and praise?

In the history of the theater hudrukov was little. After Zavadsky, the artistic director was the famous Alexei Popov (the most brilliant director and artistic director, in the opinion of the theater experts). Then - no less titled and popularly loved Andrei Popov. After his death, the artistic director becomes his disciple Boris Afanasyevich Morozov, who is still executing the leadership. The theater of the Russian Army has always been famous for its troupe, it is possible to enumerate the stars of the first magnitude, which for many years served in TsATRA. In 1975, this theater was awarded the academic title (the second letter in the abbreviation).

A unique building

But it is famous, as noted above, this theater and its building. It is located in the center of Moscow, on a very spacious square, which is called Suvorovskaya (previously - the square of the Commune, even earlier - Ekaterininskaya, the nearest metro station is Dostoevskaya). The monument to Suvorov organically looks on the background of the grandiose building of TsATRA, which is the dominant of the whole district. A unique example of Stalin's Empire style (the official name is Soviet monumental classicism) was built from 1934 to 1940 by the architects KS Alabyan and VN Simbirtsev, who faced a more than ambitious task: the building was supposed to symbolize The power of the Red Army. And the construction in the form of a star (the scheme of the theater of the Russian Army is given above) as nothing else met these requirements. In one of the articles the building of the TSATRA is called a peripetra - from the Greek "surrounded by columns", which really adorn the facade, give it the desired monumentality.

Gigantism inherent in the Stalinist empire

It is not surprising that on the stages of the theater, actions involving cavalry (the play "The First Horse" by Vsevolod Vishnevsky) and even the tanks can be played out. The building has 10 aboveground (six of which occupy the stage, in particular 4 floors - a large stage and two - a small one) and the same number of underground floors. The room with a large stage can hold up to 1,5 thousand people. The scheme of the theater of the Russian Army gives an idea of its size. The balcony of the large hall, like the amphitheater, is divided into five sectors. The exact number of seats is 1520 (originally there were 2100). He is well acquainted with millions of viewers, because here for 10 years - from 2002 to 2012 - the teams of the highest league of KVN performed.

Cozy Small Scene Room

The room with a small stage is designed for only 400 seats. Here, chamber or experimental plays are staged. In addition, the children's theater studio Natalia Aristova performs on the small stage. There were such performances as "Kovaleva from the Province", AA Popov put Kafka here. And when the big stage was reconstructed, the performances continued to be staged on a small scale. The list of performances performed on these two stages can make up a whole brochure, and reviews and responses to performances are a whole book.

Varied repertoire

It is easy to assume that in the repertoire of the theater, during the 70 years of its existence, there were performances related to military themes. They glorified the valor of the Russian Army at all times. For many years, the heroic musical comedy of F. Gladkov "Long time ago" did not leave the stage. In 2005, it was revived, and it closed the 77th season.

Never went off the stage of this theater performances on the plays of A. N. Ostrovsky. Now they show "Wolves and sheep". In 2015, the Academic Theater of the Russian Army will celebrate its 85th anniversary with a festive jubilee concert, which is to take place on the big stage on the Day of Russia. The repertoire of the theater is not alien to the performances of foreign authors (already mentioned by the musical "Paul Negri"), great historical productions: now on the big stage there is "Tsar Feodor Ioannovich". For children on the small stage, "Aibolit" is staged.

Good theater - good reviews

The theater of the Russian Army reviews has the most enthusiastic. People admire everything: grandiose architecture, elegant foyer decoration, in which you can participate in a photo shoot and even drink a glass of champagne offered at the entrance. Especially like the performances, in particular those mentioned above. The reviews are overwhelmingly positive, but it would be funny if there was not found a fly in the ointment that would spoil the barrel of honey. Opinions must differ: someone is shocked by the performance, and someone expected more. Negative responses, which are few, ultimately force the theater team to eliminate shortcomings and hone their skills.