Location : Alexandrinsky Theater
Saint Petersburg.
Russian State Academic Drama Theater named after A.S. Pushkin – the legendary Alexandrinsky Theater – is the oldest national theater in Russia. It was established by the Senate Decree, signed by the daughter of Peter the Great, Empress Elizabeth on August 30, 1756 on the day of St. Alexander Nevsky. It is this theater that is the progenitor of all Russian theaters, and the date of its foundation is the Birthday of the Russian Professional Theater. The establishment of the theater served as the beginning of the state policy of the Russian state in the field of theatrical art.
For two and a half centuries, the Russian State Drama Theater, it can be said, served as an attribute of Russian statehood. In the XVIII, XIX and early XX centuries, it was the main imperial theater, the fate of which was occupied by Russian emperors.
In 1832, the Russian State Drama Theater received a magnificent building in the center of Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg, designed by the great architect Karl Rossi. This building was named the Alexandrinsky Theater – in honor of the wife of Emperor Nicholas I Alexandra Fedorovna – and since then the name of the Alexandrinsky Theater has been inextricably linked with the world history of stage art. The unique complex of buildings, with a five-tiered auditorium, a huge stage, palace front foyers, a magnificent facade, which has become one of the emblems of the Northern capital, is among the pearls of world architecture registered by UNESCO.
It was here, at the Alexandrinsky Theater, that the premieres of almost all the works of Russian dramatic classics from “Woe from Wit” by A.S. Griboedov before plays by A.N. Ostrovsky and A.P. Chekhov. The Alexandrinsky Theater is a textbook of the history of Russian theater art.
During the 2005-2006 season, the Alexandrinsky Theater carried out a general reconstruction, as a result of which the historical appearance of the interiors of the building was recreated. At the same time, Aleksandrinka became one of the most advanced modern stage venues in terms of engineering.