Moscow is full of unique sights, each of which is worthy of a separate enthusiastic story. The Theater of the Russian Army is one of a kind in many respects. Nowhere in the world is there a theater of such a rank that would be inextricably linked with the army.
This is not an army ensemble or a visiting team with a thematic repertoire, it is one of the great institutions of this kind in the world. His status is peculiar: he is a departmental theater of the Armed Forces, and many actors on his stage in the full sense of the word served. Before the war, the USSR Ministry of Defense had several such theaters belonging to certain regions of Russia, they were called theaters of the Red Army.
Unique Army - Unique Theater
The Theater of the Russian Army, the hall in which the large stage is located (some compare it to a football field), are the largest in the capital. One of a kind is the theater building. And the point is not only that the stage of the multi-story building is the largest in Europe, the very form of this structure is unique: the building at the base is a star. The layout of the theater hall of the Russian Army is available later in the article. The magnificent structure is located so that all five rays 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 space.
Theater birth
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. TsATRA's birth date is February 6, 1930. On this day, the staging of the play “K.V.Zh.D.” was carried out.
Maybe because already in 1930 Yuri Alexandrovich Zavadsky became the artistic director of the theater with a light hand of the director Vladimir Meskheteli, the theater gained a reputation as 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 Red) is quickly becoming the favorite place of Muscovites and guests of the capital.
Skillful Leadership
This institution was always lucky with art directors, thanks to which the level of stage productions set by Zavadsky was never lowered, and the performances, surprising and shocking the audience, became legends, according to which, given their popularity, films were shot, for example, “Dance Teacher” with the legendary Vladimir Zeldin. And the 3D musical "Paul Negri", which opens the 85th season, is not worthy of surprise and praise?
There were few artistic artists in the history of the theater. After Zavadsky, the eminent Aleksey Popov became the artistic director (the brightest director and artistic director, according to theater experts). Then - no less titled and popularly beloved Andrei Popov. After his death, his student Boris Afanasevich Morozov becomes the art director, and he is still in charge. The theater of the Russian Army has always been famous for its troupe, you can long list the stars of the first magnitude, which for many years served in the center. In 1975, this theater was awarded the title of academic (second letter in the abbreviation).
One of a kind building
But 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 (earlier it was Kommuna Square, even earlier it was Ekaterininskaya, the nearest metro station was Dostoevskaya).
The monument to Suvorov organically looks against the background of the grandiose building of TsATRA, which is the dominant of the entire district. The unique example of the Stalinist empire (the official name is Soviet monumental classicism), was built from 1934 to 1940 according to the project of architects K. S. Alabyan and V. N. Simbirtsev, who were faced with a more than ambitious task: the building was to symbolize power of the Red Army. And the star-shaped structure (the scheme of the theater of the Russian Army is given above), like nothing else, met these requirements. In one of the articles, the TSATRA building is called the periphery - from the Greek “surrounded by columns”, which really decorate the facade very much, give it the desired monumentality.
Gigantism inherent in the Stalinist Empire
It is not surprising that actions with the participation of cavalry (the play “The First Horse” by Vsevolod Vishnevsky) and even tanks can be played out on the stages of the theater. The building has 10 above ground (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. A room with a large stage seats up to 1.5 thousand people. The layout of the theater hall 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 (initially there were 2100). He is well known to millions of viewers, since here for 10 years - from 2002 to 2012 - the teams of the major league of KVN performed.
Cozy small stage hall
The room with a small stage is designed for only 400 seats. Chamber or experimental performances are staged here. In addition, the children's theater studio of Natalya Aristova performs her productions on the small stage. There were such performances as “Kovaleva from the province”, A. A. Popov staged Kafka here. And when the big stage was reconstructed, the performances continued to be staged on the small one. The list of productions performed on these two stages can be a whole brochure, and reviews and responses to performances can be a whole book.
Diverse repertoire
It is easy to assume that the theater’s repertoire has always, over 70 years of its existence, been performances related to military subjects. They sang the valor of the Russian Army at all times. For many years, the heroic musical comedy of F. Gladkov “Once upon a time” did not leave the stage. In 2005, it was revived, and it closed the 77th season.
Performances based on plays by A. N. Ostrovsky never left the stage of this theater. Now they are showing "Wolves and Sheep." In 2015, the Academic Theater of the Russian Army will celebrate its 85th anniversary with a festive anniversary concert, which should take place on a large stage on Russian Day. The theater’s repertoire is not alien to the performances of foreign authors (the already mentioned musical “Paula Negri”), large historical productions: “Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich” is now on the big stage. For children on the small stage, Aibolit was staged.
Good theater - good reviews
Theater of the Russian Army reviews has the most enthusiastic. Everyone is fascinated by everything: grandiose architecture, elegant decoration of the lobby, where you can participate in a photo shoot and even drink a glass of champagne offered at the entrance. Especially like the performances, in particular the above.
The overwhelming majority of reviews are positive, but it would be ridiculous if there wasn’t found that fly in the ointment that would spoil the barrel of honey. Opinions should differ: someone was shocked by the performance, and someone expected more. Negative responses, of which there are few, ultimately force the theater staff to eliminate shortcomings and hone their skills.