Moscow

The Imperial Maly Theatre

1824-1917

The Maly Theatre was founded at the end of the XVIII century. It traces its history from the former Moscow University troupe. In 1824 the troupe moved to the rebuilt house of the merchant Vargin on Petrovskaya Square, which now holds the name Theatre Square. In a year, another theatre was opened there, which was named the Bolshoi ("Big") Theatre because of the size of the building. The Maly ("Small") Theatre received its name in comparison to it. At first, both theatres were staging opera, ballet, and drama performances, but gradually they divided. Now the Bolshoi is considered to be an opera and ballet theatre, and the Maly specializes in creating drama performances. In contrast with many other theatres guided by stage directors' ideas, the Maly has always concentrated on dramaturgy and acting. That is why it is sometimes called the "theatre of actor and playwright". Also, at different times the theatre was known as the "House of Ostrovsky" or the "House of Schepkin" because of the figures that shaped its image. Alexander Ostrovsky has always been the main playwright of the Maly Theatre, and Mikhail Schepkin had a great influence on the development of realist acting in Russia. The repertoire of the Maly Theatre throughout its history has consisted primarily of Russian and world classics – Gogol, Griboyedov, Shakespeare, Schiller. Currently, the theatre mainly stages plays by Russian authors. The most famous Maly Theatre actors of different years are Mikhail Schepkin, Maria Yermolova, Pavel Mochalov, the Sadovsky acting dynasty, Glikeria Fedotova, Alexander Yuzhin, Alexandra Yablochkina, Alexander Ilynsky, Alexander Lensky, Osip Pravdin, Boris Klyuev, Irina Muravyova, Yury Solomin (the current art director of the theatre), Lyudmila Polyakova, Elina Bystritskaya, Eugenia Glushenko.