Tale of the city of Smolensk - puppet theater and its amazing world

Puppeteers' ideas were widespread as a pop art type, along with roving groups of artists. In many countries, traditional types of puppet shows appeared, ritual mysteries, information about which dates back to the times of ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome. In Russia, puppet history is rooted in pagan rites. With the advent of buffoons, the portable street theater of Petrushka arose, in the 18th-19th centuries puppets took their places. At the beginning of the 20th century the Petrograd State Puppet Theater was created, and in 1930 it was combined with the Petrushka Theater. The performances fell in love with small spectators, and soon local theaters were formed in many cities, including in the city of Smolensk. Puppet Theater was founded here in 1937.

Theater History

With the name of the great theater figure, director, actor, cult organizer, Honored Artist of the RSFSR Dmitry Nikolayevich Svetilnikov, the foundation of the Puppet Theater in Smolensk region is associated. His creative career began with putting up posters. He was accepted into the Novgorod troupe of the theater of the young spectator in 1924, then in 1931 he entered the service of the Theater of the Red Army in Smolensk. Six years later, Dmitry Nikolaevich conquered the stage of the Smolensk Drama Theater, and since 1938 he acted as a puppet actor at the Theater named after Lenin Komsomol.

For the first time in the city of Smolensk, the puppet theater opened its doors to the audience with the play "Our Circus" (1937), but in the pre-war years, 1938-1941, puppeteers worked at the Lenin Komsomol Theater. During the war, activities were temporarily suspended. Only in September 1944 a puppet play was again staged in the city of Smolensk. The puppet theater was headed by director N. Chernov.

In 1944, Svetilnikov staged the children's play "Smolka". For ten post-war years, he worked as the artistic director of the regional ensemble, jazz orchestra, director of the regional Smolensk Philharmonic Society and the House of Folk Art, head of the Regional Department of Arts. From 1955 to 1971, he served as the chief director of the Smolensk Regional Puppet Theater.

He has accounted for more than 100 productions that have been popular with children and adults. All his life he was actively engaged in creativity and, as a consultant, passed on to his followers the richest theatrical experience. In 2006, the theater changed its name to Smolensk Regional Puppet Theater named after D.N. Svetilnikov.

Life after reconstruction

Currently, the original building is located on one of the central streets of Smolensk. The Puppet Theater settled in the building of 1957, which underwent a complete overhaul, reconstruction and restoration in early 2012. According to the state project “Theaters for Children”, the Smolensk Puppet Theater received federal support in the form of subsidies aimed at co-financing the costs of technical equipment and support creative activities.

Such support was provided for the first time, and by the 1150th anniversary of the city the theater had found a new home. Already at the end of 2013, two new scenes of large (150 seats) and small (100 seats) auditoriums received young guests with their parents. The daughter of the director Nadezhda Svetilnikova was present at the opening ceremony.

Repertoire

Each new theater season, Smolensk puppeteers celebrate with interesting premieres, constantly expanding their repertoire. The performances allow you to plunge into the world of a fairy tale not only for kids, but also for their parents to return to childhood. Performances based on fairy tales of the peoples of the world, epics, plays, classical and contemporary literary works have in their repertoire the Smolensk Puppet Theater. The poster is always replete with bright colors.

Over its more than 70-year history, the theater has presented about 400 productions, including for adults. Among them, the most famous are:

• "Gingerbread Man";
• "The Scarlet Flower";
• "Three funny pigs";
• "Swan geese";
• "Puss in Boots";
• "Fly Tsokotukha";
• "The Fox and the Thrush";
• "The Deer King";
• "The Tale of Turtles";
• "Cinderella";
• "Pig Chok";
• "Gosling";
• “Frost”;
• "The fox-rogue";
• "The Scarlet Flower";
• "By magic";
• "Masha and the bear";
• "Cat house";
• "Two queens";
• "Beech";
• "Giraffe and Rhino" and others.

Today the theater troupe consists of 12 actors. The theater is constantly developing and improving, updating the technical base, delighting with new performances.