The Okhlopkov Drama Theater (Irkutsk) has been around for more than a century. His repertoire is rich and diverse. The theater holds festivals, creative seminars, literary evenings, charity balls. Also, everyone has the opportunity to visit the museum, where you can see the programs, costumes, decorations and posters of past years.
Theater History
The idea of creating a theater arose at the turn of the 18-19th centuries. Irkutsk society longed for this event. Governor General B. Lezzano patronized the opening of the theater in the city. He carried out his constant patronage. The Drama Theater (Irkutsk) received professional status in 1850. Then the troupe of wandering actors remained in the city to work on an ongoing basis. A year later, a building was built for the theater, the guardian of this event was Governor General Nikolai Muravyov-Amursky. The first performance of the troupe was the play “The Russian Man Remembers Good,” written by N. Polev, a native of Irkutsk. The director of the theater was A.N. Pokhvisisnev. He was an officer of the guard and a playwright, his plays were staged on Moscow and St. Petersburg stages. The theater hosted great masters such as P. N. Orlenev, M. I. Petipa, V. F. Komissarzhevskaya and others. They often visited here. In 1967, the theater received the name of N.P. Okhlopkov. This outstanding director of the Soviet Union began his career on this very Irkutsk stage. In 1999, the theater received the title of “Academic” for its great contribution to the development of art and for great achievements. Two stages have a drama theater (Irkutsk): a chamber stage and a main one. Every evening, both rooms are filled with spectators, there is not a single empty seat. Recently, a
design office has been created and equipped in the theater
. It employs specialists who produce
advertising booklets, posters, programs. The theater conducts educational activities. And there are also continuing education courses for representatives of creative professions. In 2006, the theater received the F. Volkov Prize for its great contribution to the development of art. Today, the director of this temple of art in Irkutsk is A. A. Streltsov, Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation. The artistic director of the theater is G.V. Shaposhnikov.
Theater building
The Drama Theater (Irkutsk) has replaced several rooms over the years of its existence. The first buildings were wooden. In 1897, a stone was built. The project of the building of the Irkutsk theater was developed by V. A. Shreret - the main theater architect at the imperial court. Governor Alexander Goremykin contributed in every way to the construction. The building was built according to the traditional scheme for theaters - a longline. The interior of the room was amazing, the acoustics were perfect. Today the building has the status of a monument of historical and cultural heritage of federal significance. In 1999, the theater was reconstructed.
Performances
The Drama Theater (Irkutsk) offers a varied repertoire to its audience. Here are time-tested and popular authors, such as S. Lobozerov, V. Gurkin, Razumovskaya, N. Ptushkina, N. Kolyada and so on. As well as the new names that the theater reveals due to the fact that it holds a festival of modern drama.
To date, the repertoire:
- "The room of the bride."
- "Alexander Nevsky in the Middle World."
- "Cat house".
- "Player".
- "For the rest of my life".
- "Hamlet".
- "A little tenderness."
- "Forever alive."
- "Boeing Boeing, or French Dinner."
- "Orpheus and Eurydice."
- "There was a war tomorrow."
- "Romeo and Juliet".
- "Marriage".
- "At the command of the pike, at my request."
- "Sunset".
- "Wolves and sheep."
- "Rivals."
- Halam Bundou.
- “I am Joan of Orleans.”
- "Eugene Onegin".
- "Olesya."
- "From the heroes of bygone days."
- "Three on a swing."
- Tartuffe.
- "Elizabeth Bam."
- "Dog".
And other interesting productions.
Troupe
The Drama Theater (Irkutsk) today represents 61 actors. Among them are 3 People's Artists of Russia.
- Wenger Vitaliy Konstantinovich.
- Koroleva Natalia Vasilievna.
- Oleinik Tamara Viktorovna.
And also 15 Honored Artists of Russia.
- Sidorchenko V.P.
- Buldakov A.A.
- Dubakov N.V.
- Soloninkin I.P.
- Voronov Y. M.
- Ilyin A.V.
- Slabunova L. T.
- Gushchin G. S.
- Mazurenko E.S.
- Orekhov V.S.
- Dvinskaya T.V.
- Mylnikova K. I.
- Dogadin S.V.
- Panasyuk T.I.
- Chirva I.I.
The troupe performs not only in Irkutsk, artists come on tour in Omsk, Tomsk, Voronezh, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Sochi, travel to other countries - Poland, Kyrgyzstan, the USA, Japan, Germany, Bulgaria and so on.
Re-education project
The Drama Theater (Irkutsk) in collaboration with law enforcement agencies is conducting an experiment. Difficult teenagers are temporarily satisfied with work. For a month they work in the garden of the theater, make scenery with artists, even go on stage and take part in performances next to professional actors. Many teenagers first get acquainted with the theater due to the fact that there is such a project. The guys and girls are all different, someone immediately got into the work, someone at first was lazy or afraid, refused, but gradually everyone is happy to get involved in the process. Teenagers say that they like to communicate with artists, and in the theater they are much more interesting than in school. Such experience will help difficult guys and girls to develop their intelligence, creative abilities, and for someone they will play a decisive role in fate. The idea of this project belongs to the director of the Irkutsk theater. Law enforcement supported her without hesitation. The problem of difficult teenagers in Irkutsk is very acute, there are more than 7 thousand of them in the city and everyone should be employed for the summer period. Not every leader of any enterprise, company, and so on, decides to hire such a child, even if temporarily, even if they have an urgent need for employees. And difficult teenagers who want to improve themselves feel that society does not trust them, therefore the Irkutsk Drama Theater is doing a good deed for them. The author of the project idea hopes that the experiment will live, and the boys and girls will be able to feel full members of society.
Ticket purchase and theater address
On Karl Marx Street, at number 14, there is a drama theater (Irkutsk). The layout of the hall is shown in the photo above. Everyone can order an online ticket for a performance on the theater’s official website.