Moscow

Roman Viktyuk Theatre

1991-2024

The Roman Viktyuk Theatre is an author's theatre, created in 1991 by the director who gave it its name. The first performance shown there was "M. Butterfly". In 1996 the theatre received the status of a state theatre and moved to its own building on Stromynka Street, which is considered a landmark of constructivist architecture in Moscow. Born in Ukraine in 1936, Roman Victyuk started his work at theatres in Lviv, Kyiv, and Kalinin (now Tver). In 1970-1974 he worked as a director at the Russian Drama Theatre in Vilnius and in the 1980s began his career in Moscow at different theaters. In 1988 at the Satirikon Theatre he staged Jean Jenet's play "The Maids'', in which all roles were played by male artists (Konstantin Raikin, Nikolay Dobrynin, and Alexander Zuyev). The performance was created with the participation of the circus director Valentin Gneushev and the choreographer Alla Sigalova. Shortly after the premiere the show was acclaimed by many viewers and shown in different countries of the world. Inspired by Alexander Tairov’s approach, Roman Victyuk created his own synthetic style, which makes his performances recognizable. His works, known for their expressiveness, combine choreography, music, opera, poetry, and drama; the theatre actors pay great attention to plastic language. After Roman Victyuk's death in 2020, the theatre continues to work. Now its repertoire consists of 28 performances, including "Le Puttane'' (1997), "Salome" (1998), The Master and Margarita" (2001), "Phaedra" (2015), and others.