Moscow

Taganka Moscow State Drama and Comedy Theatre

1964-1987

The theatre emerged in 1964, when the newly graduated students of Yury Lyubimov joined the Moscow Theatre of Drama and Comedy troupe. Yuri Lyubimov became the chief director. After his conflict with the authorities, the theatre was led by Anatoly Efros (1984-1987) and Nikolay Gubenko (1987-1989). In 1989, Yuri Lyubimov returned to the Taganka Theatre. The theatre was famous for its actors included Vladimir Vysotsky, Alla Demidova, Valery Zolotukhin, Zinaida Slavina, Veniamin Smekhov, Leonid Filatov, Boris Khmelnitsky, Maria Politseymako, Semyon Farada, Olga Yakovleva. The productions were extremely popular. They were characterized by raising topical issues, following the traditions of Yevgeny Vakhtangov, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Bertolt Brecht, and searching for a new scenic language. The premiere was The Good Person of Szechwan (1964, still on stage). The repertoire included Ten Days That Shook the World (1965), The Fallen and the Living (1965), Pugachev (1967), Hamlet (1971), The Master and Margarita (1977), The House on the Embankment (1980), The Misanthrope (1986), and other stagings. Due to internal conflicts, in 1993 the troupe divided into the Taganka Theatre directed by Yury Lyubimov and the Commonwealth of Taganka Actors led by Nikolay Gubenko.