Moscow

Central Children's Theatre

1936-1987

The Moscow Theatre for Children was opened in 1921 by Natalia Satz. The first premiere was "The pearl of Adalmina". Natalia Satz (1903-1993) was one of the founders of the Soviet children’s theatre. Soon after graduating college in 1917, she headed the Children’s Department of the Theamussection of the Mossoviet. She initiated establishing the Mossoviet Children’s Theatre - the first permanent theatre for children. In 1921-1936, Natalia Satz led the Moscow Children’s Theatre. The project executed not only artistic but also educational and pedagogical tasks. It was intended to become the second home for children from different backgrounds; the theatre even helped to work with troubled orphans of the Civil War. The Central Children's Theatre was established at its base on 2 February 1936. The theatre contributed significantly to developing artistic and pedagogical principles of scenic art, creating children's repertoire. Natalia Satz cooperated with high-class playwrights, composers, and artists. She enriched the program with symphonic concerts, classical music productions like the children’s opera The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish or the symphonic tale Peter and the Wolf. In 1937, Natalia Satz was arrested as the wife of an enemy of the people. Later, she managed to continue her lifework. After Natalia Satz was convicted in 1937, the theatre was led by art directors Vladimir Dudin (1937-1943), Leonid Volkov (1943-1948), Olga Pyzhova (1948-1950), Valentin Kolesaev (1950-1954), Maria Knebel (1955-1960, 1966-1968), Konstantin Shakh-Azizov (1960-1966, 1971-1974), Vladimir Kuzmin (1974-1979), Alexey Borodin (since 1980). Georgy Tovstonogov, Oleg Yefremov, Anatoly Efros staged plays at the theatre. The troupe involved Lyudmila Chernysheva, Antonina Dmitrieva, Evgeny Dvorzhetsky, Margarita Kupriyanova, Matvey Neyman, Galina Novozhilova, Gennady Pechnikov, Evgeny Perov, Zinovy Sazhin, Taras Solovyov, Valentina Sperantova, Ivan Voronov, and other actors. The repertoire included The Fairy Tales (1941), Son of the Regiment (1945), How the Steel Was Tempered (1947, 1967), The Two Captains (1948), Somewhere in Siberia (1949), Her Friends (1949), Woe from Wit (1951), Dead Souls (1952), A Page of Life (1953), V Dobryy Chas (1954), In Search of Joy (1957), Boris Godunov (1957), My friend, Kolka! (1959), The Marriage (1963), The Young Guard (1974), The Enemies (1975), Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka (1975), Les Misérables (1983), The New Sorrows of Young W. (1984), and other plays. The Central Children's Theatre was awarded the Order of Lenin (1969). In 1987, the theatre was granted the status of academic. In 1992, it was renamed the Russian Academic Youth Theatre (RAMT).