Puppet Theater Bolshoi, St. Petersburg, ul. Nekrasova, 10. Performances, reviews

The Bolshoi Puppet Theater (St. Petersburg) is considered the oldest in Russia. It was founded on May 16, 1931. It was then that the audience saw the first play called "Incubator."

Puppet Theater Bolshoi

History

It began in a small house located on Poklonnaya Hill. Once, five friends, among whom were three actors, decided to create their own theater. These were artists N. Komin, A. Gak and A. Gumilev, artist V. Komin and musician M. Aptekar, who were simply in love with magical art created using dolls. Initially, they were sheltered at the House of Communist Child Education in the Smolninsky District, located on Volodarsky Avenue. Gradually, the theater for children grew, uniting talented actors around itself and gaining strength. In 1939, the institution, which was then called the Second Leningrad, received the status of a state. A year later, she moved to a building on 10. Nekrasov Street. The Bolshoi Puppet Theater, whose address has not changed since then, is today located in the former apartment building of A. Burtsev, built before the revolution by architect Volodikhin.

Theater for children

Development

From 1932 to 1948, the Bolshoi Puppet Theater was headed by a student of Meyerhold, a graduate of the School of Russian Drama Savely Shapiro. With the advent of this director and reviewer, the professional era has already begun. The repertoire included not only productions devoted to contemporary themes, but also dramatizations from Russian and foreign classics, rebuilt for children's perception. The most significant works of S. Shapiro were “Kashtanka” (1935 and 1945), “Bevron meadow” (1937), as well as “Aladdin and the magic lamp” (1940) and “The Scarlet Flower”, staged after the end of the war.

Hard years

The Great Patriotic War was a great test for all Leningrad residents. He shared the fate of the blockade and this theater for children. On a truck, in a truck body, assembled on its own, the team, through Ladoga, took the surviving actors and all the dolls to distant Siberia. Here he performed not only with performances intended for children, but also with satirical performances for the more adult population. I had to play in hospitals and in the hangars of airfields, in factories and on ships. Twice the Bolshoi Puppet Theater also visited its native besieged Leningrad. Under shelling, the actors got to Kronstadt to speak to the sailors.

Bolshoi Puppet Theater Petersburg

After the war

The Bolshoi Puppet Theater was one of the first to return to Leningrad from evacuation, opening the post-war season with the Scarlet Flower. It was an already established creative team with a clear aesthetic program and a highly professional troupe. The names of leading actors - Alperovich, Kiseleva, Kukushkin, Korzakov brothers - went down in history. The era of Shapiro, who passed away in 1948, completed the poetic performance “The Legend of the Swan City”. Since 1949, the Bolshoi Puppet Theater was headed by Mikhail Korolev. His most famous works for children were The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Wild Swans, Ruslan and Lyudmila, Burning Sails, Ivan the Peasant's Son and Thumbelina, as well as The Little Humpbacked Horse. Since 1954, the Bolshoi Puppet Theater has included adult performances in its repertoire.

Bolshoi Puppet Theater poster

Performances

In 1957, for the first time in our country, adult prose was staged on a puppet stage. Performances "12 chairs", "Golden Calf" were awarded diplomas of the 1st degree. In 1958, the theater received the bronze medal "For Dolls" in Brussels. The play “Adorable Galatea” by S. Darvash and B. Gador has in its account more than a thousand representations. In 1959, Korolev created the very first department of the puppet theater, which brought up a galaxy of talented directors and professional puppeteers.

From 1965 to 1986, the Bolshoi Puppet Theater was led by Viktor Sudarushkin. The name of this director is associated with many major achievements. He was the youngest artistic director in the USSR - he was only twenty-eight years old. The most significant works of Sudarushkin were Kipling's “Little Elephant”, “Unknown with the Tail” and “Malchish-Kibalchish”, and from the adult repertoire - “Absolute Comedy”, “Adventures of the Good Soldier Schweik”, “Love, Love ...”, “Bedbug”, “To the Third Cocks” by Shukshin, “Foreigner in Rome” by Zoshchenko.

After the death of this talented director, the theater was led one after another by Vladimir Maslov, academician A. Belinsky, V. Bogach, Alla Polukhina, a student of Tovstonogov. The latter put on many performances in children's classics, such as The Fox, The Blue Bird, The Nightingale, The Three Little Pigs, etc. But unfortunately, the adult repertoire, which the Bolshoi Puppet Theater was so proud of (Petersburg), was lost.

Bolshoi Puppet Theater St. Petersburg

Today

Since 2006, Ruslan Kudashov, the director and professional actor who once created Potudan, became the main director. He is known for his work not only in our country. In 2005, the Bolshoi Puppet Theater showed its premiere - the play "Viy" directed by Kudashov, thereby restoring the tradition of having on its stage a repertoire designed for adults. For several years, BTK has traveled to many countries where it has received the highest awards. In the same 2006, he, together with the St. Petersburg State Academy of Theater Arts, announced the creation of a studio course from which puppet theater artists graduated. This workshop exists to this day, and its performances enrich the adult repertoire, which at one time lost the Bolshoi Puppet Theater.

Poster

In addition to student productions, one can see the adult works of many directors - “Kholstomer” by Kudashov, “Toybel and her demon” Byzgu, “100 shades of blue” by Tumin, etc. The theater’s poster has many new names for children, for example, “The Little Prince” "," The Nutcracker, or Christmas Visions of Marie Stahlbaum, "" The Big Trees Journey, "" The Tale for Naughty Bear Cubs, "etc. There are currently twenty-two performances for young viewers and nine for adults.

I must say that tickets have different prices. For children's productions you need to pay from twenty to four hundred and fifty, and for adults - up to one thousand five hundred rubles, depending on the place chosen in the auditorium.

Bolshoi Puppet Theater

Reviews

All those who were lucky enough to visit the Bolshoi Puppet Theater unanimously say: everything was so interesting that young children are still full of emotions when they talk about the performances. Almost all the productions are made at the highest level. The conversation between the actors and the audience, held in the language of the hands, is especially impressive. Many viewers say they were simply shocked at how a person can have such plasticity. Each number in the play is a separate work of art. Judging by the reviews, almost everyone, both children and adults, receive a huge portion of positive, so they come to the Bolshoi Puppet Theater more than once. A cozy compact room and soft armchairs create a feeling of a warm home environment.

A lot of reviews about the work of the director. Most consider him to be very talented, and his findings and decisions are amazing, making even small ones smile.

Spectators do not cease to admire the actors, especially their ability to change their voices. The same talented puppeteer can voice both a small fox and a huge evil monster. And his dexterous fingers allow you to revive the smiles on the faces of fairy-tale characters and on the cute faces of forest animals.

Colorful costumes, professional musical accompaniment and, of course, amazing skill of the artists allow the audience to plunge into the wonderful world of the theater and forget about problems for a short time. Many of those who visited BTK in St. Petersburg strongly recommend visiting it to everyone who has not been here.


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