Kineshma

Alexander Ostrovsky Drama Theatre

The theatre was opened on 26 December 1897, the premiere was “Poverty Is No Disgrace” by Alexander Ostrovsky. The theatre was named after Alexander Ostrovsky because the famous playwright lived in the vicinity of Kineshma and participated in local community activities. Since the very beginning, the Ostrovsky Drama Theatre has cooperated with the Maly Theatre. Productions involved both professional and amateur actors. The repertoire included plenty of plays by Alexander Ostrovsky and works by modern authors such as Maksim Gorky, Anton Chekhov, Leonid Andreev, Gerhart Hauptmann, Henrik Ibsen, Bernard Shaw, et al. In the 1920s, after a tough period, the director V. Ivanov managed to shape a harmonious troupe and make the theatre commercially successful. The repertoire still included plays by Alexander Ostrovsky and other classics. For a while, there were also some low-grade plays typical for the NEP. Gradually, modern soviet plays comprised about half of the repertoire. In 1941, many actors joined the Red Army, and city theatres of Kineshma and Shuya had to unite in the United Shuya and Kineshma Drama Theatre. In 1943, a new troupe was formed, and the Kineshma Theatre became independent. In the years of war, there were premiered classical plays ("Wolves and Sheep" or “Scapin the Schemer”) and modern plays (“The Russian People”, "Invasion", or “The Immortal”). The theatre went on tours and gave concerts for wounded soldiers. After the war, the theatre continued staging modern and classical plays. The theatre highlights head directors A. Larionov, B. Raysky, B. Skomorovsky, Y. Yegorov, V. Ryabinov, Y. Reznichenko, V. Balandin, et al. In 2007–2012, the theatre was a branch of the Ivanovo Oblast Drama Theatre. The Alexander Ostrovsky Drama Theatre has participated in regional, all-Russian, and international festivals and received awards, including that for saving Russian theatre traditions. The theatre has held The Ardent Heart International Festival of Russian Classic Drama, The International Ostrovsky-FEST of Chamber Drama, and other festivals. In our collection, there are playbills for "The Kidnapping of the Onions" and "The Diamond Workshop" (the 1960s); "Truth is Good, but Happiness is Better" and "The Eastern Tribune" (the 1980s); "Money to Burn", “The Bankrupt”, “Without a Dowry” (the 2000s–10s), and other. There are programs for such plays as "Children of the Sun", "Yegor Bulychev", "How the Steel Was Tempered", "Dream", "The Break", "Tanya" (the first Russian staging), "Someone Else's Child” (the 1930s); "Room to Let for a Single Man", "Bright Souls", "Two Out of Twenty Millions", and "The Eastern Tribune" (the 1980s); photos of "There Was Not a Penny, But Suddenly Altyn" (1989) and a model of scenery for "Room to Let for a Single Man" (1987). The collection will be gradually replenished.