A building stands in the very centre of Kiev's historic part, at a very short distance from Kreshchatik Street, Kiev's main street, on a corner of Pushkinskaya Street and Bogdana Khmelnitskogo Street, two old streets; the building is well-known to Kiev's residents and visitors as the one that houses the Lesya Ukrainka National Academic Theatre of Russian Drama (the Lesya Ukrainka Theatre or the Theatre, for short).
The value of every theatre and its popularity among spectators is determined by the presence of distinctive, strong personalities.
The Lesya Ukrainka Theatre has always been famous for distinctive personalities of its actors and stage directors. The Theatre has always been and remains a theatre of an ensemble. Many famous people worked here such as the actors Mikhail Romanov, Yury Lavrov, Mariya Strelkova, Lyubov Dobrzhanskaya, Nikolay Svetlovidov, Yevgeniya Opalova, Viktor Dobrovolsky, Viktor Khalatov and, somewhat later, Oleg Borisov, Pavel Luspekayev, Kirill Lavrov and Ada Rogovtseva; the stage directors Konstantin Khokhlov, Vladimir Nelli, Nikolay Sokolov, Leonid Varpakhovsky and Georgy Tovstonogov; the designers Anatoly Petritsky, Morits Umansky, David Borovsky, Daniil Lider and Leon Alschitz; and the composers Boris Lyatoshinsky and Yury Shaporin.
All these names are well-known in Ukraine as is well-known the fact that the "brand" of the Lesya Ukrainka Theatre has always attracted not only professionals, but also common spectators of the hundreds of cities and towns toured by the Theatre.
The official history of the Lesya Ukrainka Theatre started in 1926 when it was founded by Kiev District Executive Committee (the local government) as the Russian State Drama; on 15 October of the same year the Theatre opened its first season.
In 1941, the Theatre was named in the honour of Lesya Ukrainka, a famous Ukrainian writer.
However, the Theatre's roots go back to the 19th century, to those remote times when various non-repertory theatrical companies were being founded and disbanded all over the Russian Empire. In Kiev, a permanent Russian theatre was established in 1891 based on the non-repertory company led by the outstanding Russian stage director and actor Nikolay Solovtsov. These were the actors of this company who would later make up the core of the Kiev State Russian Drama Theatre.
And it was in the present building of the Lesya Ukrainka Theatre that Solovtsov's company performed their first productions. This building entered the history as Bergonie House.
Old theatre-lovers still remember the Lesya Ukrainka Theatre's productions that have become a legend: Leo Tolstoy's The Living Corpse involving the unique Romanov, Gabriela Zapolska's The Morality of Mrs Dulska; Alejandro Casona's Los arboles mueren de pie featuring a brilliant duet of Opalova and Khalatov; Leonid Zorin's A Warsaw Melody involving the superb Rogovtseva; Zorin's Kind Hearts featuring the sparkling Yury Mazhuga; Leonid Malyugin's My Mocking Happiness involving wonderful work by the actors Nikolay Rushkovsky, Vyacheslav Ezepov, Larisa Kadochnikova, Ada Rogovtseva, Isabella Pavlova and Sergey Filimonov; Aleksey Arbuzov's The Victorious One that featured the superb Vareriya Zaklunnaya; Saulius Saltenis' A Tale of Monika that involved the then beginners Lyubov Kubyuk, Anatoly Khostikoyev and Aleksandr Ignatusha; and, the last but definitely not least, Oscar Wilde's comedy The Importance of Being Earnest, the highlight of fifteen theatre seasons that offered an entire constellation of wonderful actors.
The years are passing by and the titles of productions as well as the names of stage directors, actors and designers are changing.
In 1994, Mikhail Reznikovich, Ukraine's People's Artist, became the head of the Theatre.
Having joined the Theatre in 1963 after his graduation from Tovstonogov's programme of theatre directing, Reznikovich associated his carrier with the Theatre's company for a long time. Since then, he has staged many productions in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Novosibirsk (Russia), Varna (Bulgaria) and Beijing (China).
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