The Kamernaya Stsena Russian Drama Theatre or the Chamber Stage Theatre of Russian Drama (the Theatre or the Chamber Stage, for short) is distinguished by several features. Its founders and managers, Mikhail Shchepenko and Tamara Basnina, have always been faithful to the principle "The theatre is a monastery". The Theatre was created from scratch: at first there were only them two. The company of the Theatre has always been exclusively staffed by actors brought up by the managers. In the Theatre, the role of stage director may only be assumed by one of the managers. The Chamber Stage embodies the monolithic unity; it is a kind of state that tolerates its citizens only.
The Theatre has always been dedicated to a certain philosophy and a certain spiritual teaching. As Shchepenko said, the evolution of the Chamber Stage passed through three periods: a social protest, an adherence to oriental teachings (primarily to Nicholas Roerich's Agni Yoga) and a service to Orthodox Christianity, which is the current period.
Shchepenko argued: "As a phenomenon of social consciousness, theatre possesses a quality of fantastically strong inertance. The magic of the past aesthetic achievements is so powerful that the audience wishes to participate (and so it does) in the "naked king" situation. It is as if the audience adds to the painting something that is long gone. I do not recognise neither the theatres that serve as museums, nor the productions that are no longer needed today. To paraphrase Aleksandr Pushkin, theatre and museum are two things that don't combine." This opinion was also shared by Konstantin Stanislavsky, Yevgeny Vakhtangov and Boris Zakhava.
7 October 1974. The first meeting of the future members of the theatre studio of Moscow Mendeleyev Institute of Chemical Technology.
1976. The first production. Basnina's and Shepenko's "Tale of a Beautiful Princess and All the Consequences of the Fact" (the first version).
1978. The foundation of the Novoslobodskaya Studio Theatre. William Saroyan's "Hello Out There". Aleksandr Vampilov's "Twenty Minutes with an Angel".
1979. "Oh, My Russia!".
1980. The foundation of the Chekhov Street Studio Theatre.
1981. Alla Sokolova's "Faryatyev's Fantasies".
1982. The Theatre was awarded with the title of People's Theatre. "What are you shouting at?" based on Anton Chekhov's vaudevilles. "Chekhov in Chekhov Street" based on Chekhov's short stories.
1983. A tour around Pskov Region and Kaliningrad Region, Russia. Ivan Kamerny's "Always Theatre".
1984. A tour around Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. Richard Bach's "Jonathan Livingston Seagull".
1985. The participation in the cultural programme of the World Festival of Youth and Students, Moscow. Shchepenko's "Once Upon a Morning, Before Sunset".
1986. The participation in the Festival for Russian and Soviet Drama (the city of Svitavy, Chekhoslovakia). Ivan Kamerny's "Moliere is Visiting Us". "Age Has Passed", an extension and reworking of "Chekhov in Chekhov Street".
1987. The foundation of the Chamber Stage, a professional theatre. A tour to the city of Tver, Russia. A tour to the city of Murmansk, Russia. A tour around Tula Region, Russia.
1988. The participation in the Festival for New Youth Theatres (the city of Arkhangelsk, Russia). A tour to the city of Ryazan, Russia. A tour to the city of Stary Oskol, Belgorod Region, Russia. Mariya Arbatova's "An Equation with Two Known Quantities". Vitaly Moskalenko's "Angel of Mournful Understanding". Shchepenko's and Basnina's "Tale of a Beautiful Princess and All the Consequences of the Fact" (the second version).
1989. The participation in a festival of chamber art (the town of Citta di Castello, Perugia, Italy). A tour to the city of Samara, Russia. A tour to the city of Izhevsk, Russia.
1990. The participation in a festival of theatre art (the town of Umbertide, Perugia, Italy). A tour to the city of Novorossiysk, Russia. "The Black Horse" by Boris Savinkov (also known as V. Ropshin). Ivan Kamerny's "Three Brothers".
1991. The participation in Maschera d'Oro, an annual theatre festival in the city of Vicenza (Veneto, Italy).
1992. The participation in a festival for new theatre forms (the city of Smolensk, Russia). "Lights" based on the novella by Chekhov as well as on some of his short stories and plays.
1993. The first batch of students graduated from the Chamber Stage's theatre study programme at Yaroslavl State Theatre Institute. Aleksandr Vampilov's "Twenty Minutes with an Angel" (a new version).
1994. The 20th anniversary of the Theatre's creative work. A tour to Italy. Ivan Kamerny's "Clow Divertissement".
1995. "Marriage?" based on Nikolay Gogol's "Marriage". A tour to the city of Cheboksary, Russia.
1996. "The Unavoidable House" based on the tale by Vladimir Odoyevsky and on Sofya Chistyakova's "Two Widows and A Stranger". A tour to the city of Lvov, Ukraine, to participate in city's annual Golden Lion Festival.
1998. Shchepenko received an award from the mayor of Moscow, for his performance of the part of tsar Fyodor in "Tsar Fyodor Ivanovitch". A tour to the city of Vladimir, Russia, to participate in the Voices of History Festival.
1999. Georgy Yudin's "Murom Miracle". Shchepenko's "Watch and Hearken". Averina's "Father Frost". The death of Sergey Prishchep, the leading actor of the Theatre and one of its founders. A tour along the Volga River.
2000. Averina's "Two Frosts".
2001. Samuil Marshak's "The Cat's House" (adapted into a musical by A. Kulygin), Klavdiya Lukashevich's "The Master and the Servant" and "Now You Are Asking How We Do" (based on Chekhov's early short stories); the 3rd Russian Drama Festival (an all-Russian festival for school theatres). A tour to the city of Eupatoria, Ukraine. The actors Dmitry Polyakov and Andrey Umanets received the title of Russia's Meritorious Artist.
2002. Ivan Shmelyov's "Kulikovo Field"; the 4th Russian Drama Festival.
2003. The 25th theatre season. A tour to the city of Oryol; the participation in the Slavic Theatre Meetings Festival, an international festival, where Shepenko received the best actor award. The actress Valeriya Polyakova received the title of Russia's Meritorious Actress. The 5th anniversary of the Russian Drama Festival. The participation in the 1st Kuzbazz Ark Festival (an Ortodox theatre festival) and in the 1st Golden Knight Theatre Festival.
2004. "The King's Choice" based on tales by Lidiya Charskaya and Vladimir Sollogub's "Woe from the Tender Heart". Shchepenko received the title of Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, and the actor Arkady Averin received the title of Russia's Meritorious Artist. The participation in the 1st Hello Yamal Festival (a tale theatre festival; the city of Novy Urengoy, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, Russia). The 30th anniversary of the creative work.
2005: Shchepenko's "On the Very Edge", Aleksandr Tvardovsky's "Vassili Tyorkin" (staged as "Him and No One Else, Of Course!"). A tour to the city of Volgograd (formerly, Stalingrad) and to the city of Syktyvkar, Russia. The Theatre's head manager Basnina received the title of Russia's Meritorious Worker of Arts. The actor Aleksey Savchenko received the title of Russia's Meritorious Artist. A benefit performance of Russia's Meritorious Artist Dmitry Polyakov; the performance was dedicated to the actor's 40th birthday and to the 20th anniversary of his service to the Theatre. The 60th birthday of Mikhail Shchepenko, the Theatre's head art director.
2006: The actress Yuliya Shchepenko received the title of Russia's Meritorious Actress. A tour to the city of Volgograd and to the city of Samara, Russia.
2007: Mikhail Dunayev's "Don Juan? Don Juan!". A benefit performance of the large actors' dynasty of Shchepenko-Averins in "Marriage".
2008: Aleksandr Vampilov's "Farewell in June". Averina's "Bengal Lights" (based on short stories by Nikolay Nosov). An anniversary of the Russian Drama Festival, which was held for the 10th time.
2009: Ostrovsky's "The Heart is Not a Stone". Averina's "The Twelve Months" (based on the play by Samuil Marshak). The 35th anniversary of the Chamber Stage.
2010: The participation in the 3rd Saint Petersburg From Image to Image Theatre Festival with Vladimir Sollogub's "Woe from the Tender Heart" (staged as "The Tender Heart") (12th April).
On 9 May, in honour of the 65th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the Chamber Stage hosted a concert for the veterans of the war. The celebratory programme started with "The Memory Has Been Passed Over: The War As Seen By Children", a literary and dramatic performance by the Theatre's children's studio led by Yuliya Shchepenko.
Mikhail Shchepenko held a talk at the 14th World Russian People's Council (May 26).
The Chamber Stage participated in an Optina Hermitage conference, Russia's Heritage and the Spiritual Choice of the Russian Intellectuals, which saw its 5th anniversary (May 11–31). At the conference, Mikhail Shchepenko held talks and participated in the conference's activities in Moscow, the Optina Hermitage and the cities of Tambov and Kaluga.
Tsar Fyodor Ivanovitch was performed on the stage of Usovo Church Complex, which was solemnly opened that day; Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin participated in the opening ceremony, and the Church of Saviour Not-Made-by-Hands was consecrated by Kirill, the patriarch of Russia (July 5).
On Usovo's stage, "The Tender Heart" was performed (September 3).
The participation in the Karamsin's Days Festival, in the Ostafyevo estate. Tsar Fyodor Ivanovitch was performed (September 19).
The Theatre participated in the Golden Knight Theatre Festival. On 23 October, the show "Angel of Mournful Understanding" was presented as part of the competition programme.
The head art director Mikhail Shchepenko was decorated with the Order of St Theodore Stratelates, an order of the Russian Orthodox Church (October 31).
From 31 October to 5 November, the 12th Russian Drama Festival was held. The youth studio at the Chamber Stage participated in the festival with the premiere performance of Averina's play Farewell Bell. The production won the award for the most complete conformity to the festival's motto ("A good name is sooner lost than won"). Mariya Averina received an award for her performance of the part of Lyuba Shevtsova. Yaroslav Simakov received an award for his creation of a positive image of the contemporary individual.
The 65th birthday of Mikhail Shchepenko, the Theatre's head art director (August 26).
In 1934, a decree of the People's Commissariat (Ministry) for Education (decree no. 219 of 15th March 1934, "On Deploying a Network of Collective and State Farm Theatres") created the First Moscow Region Drama Theatre.
In 1992, when the theatre network of Moscow Region was being reorganised, a decree (no. 242 of 1st September 1992) of the Commit...
The Moscow Regional Russian State Ballet Theatre (the Theatre or the State Russian Ballet, for short) is one of Russia's leading ballet enterprises.
In contrast to other ballet companies that have lately been formed as one-off non-repertory companies, the Russian State Ballet has been a resident company for decades; the company has its own stage...
Every phase of the history of the Ostrovsky Moscow Regional Drama Theatre (the Theatre or the Ostrovsky Theatre, for short) succinctly reflects distinctive features of the corresponding epoch.
The Theatre was founded as the 4th Collective and State Farm Mikhaylov Theatre, based on the theatre "brigade" of the Frunze House of Education Workers. T...
WorldWalk.info
en
info@worldwalk.info