The history of the Vladimir Academic Regional Drama Theater
begins from the moment when the provincial actor I. Lavrov stopped
in Vladimir. The quick-witted Lavrov learned that Vladimir's
governor loves "everything elegant and useful." And then he went to
see her with a request to convince the governor to allocate money
for the construction of the theater building and agree with the
Vologda governor to send an entrepreneur with his troupe to
Vladimir.
It is not known why, but Lavrov's request was
granted, and the theater was built very quickly. In the autumn of
1848, the Vologda entrepreneur Boris Solovyov gave the first
performances in the theater (naturally with the participation of
Lavrov). Solovyov's troupe finished performing in the spring of
1849, but part of it remained in Vladimir. I. Lavrov became the
owner of the theater.
The wooden building of the theater was
hastily built and already in 1850 was close to destruction, and in order
to prevent accidents that could occur from its destruction, it was
ordered to be demolished. But during this time, the inhabitants of
Vladimir got used to the theater and the city council allowed the
merchant of the 3rd guild I.I. Barsukov to build a theater building near
the Golden Gate.
The most remarkable period in the life of the
theater was the 1860s. At this time, a new leader of the nobility
appeared in the city - M.I. Ogarev with his wife. His wife A.M. Chitau
was a talented actress at the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg.
The couple were perplexed by the level of theater in the city. They
themselves decided to take on this matter. With their help, the theater
troupe was soon full of graduates of the St. Petersburg Theater School.
The artistic level of theatrical productions has grown significantly.
And in 1864 the theater was already touring on the stage of the St.
Petersburg Alexandrinsky Theatre.
The theater also had a noisy
success in the early 1890s thanks to the tour of the Vladimir stage of
the actors of the Maly Theater. For the public, Vladimir played A.P.
Lensky, M.N. Ermolova, G.N. Fedotova, O.A. Pravdin and other luminaries
of the theatre. The last years of the 19th century the theater fell into
decay, passing from the hands of one mediocre entrepreneur to another.
Theatrical life has noticeably intensified since 1905. In addition
to entertaining productions, performances based on plays by A.N.
Ostrovsky, L.N. Tolstoy, F. Schiller, M. Gorky, novels by F.M.
Dostoevsky. After the outbreak of the First World War, the theater was
closed - the premises were occupied by the military.
The
revolution in the life of the theater made its own adjustments. The
repertoire of the theater in the post-revolutionary years consisted of
such plays: "Avdot'ina's Life", "World Eater", "The Rebels", "The Death
of a Red Army Soldier", "People of Fire and Iron", "Saboteurs", "Glow".
In 1925 the theater received the status of the Provincial Drama
Theatre. Performances appeared in his repertoire, which later became
Soviet stage classics. Among them: "Love Yarovaya" by K. Trenev, "Storm"
by Bill-Belotserkovsky, "Virineya" by L. Seifullina, "Mutiny" by E.
Verkharn, "Break" by Lavrenev.
From 1934-1935, the theater began
to bear the name of A.V. Lunacharsky. The repertoire of the theater in
the 1930s included plays by N. Pogodin, M. Gorky, A. Arbuzov, A.
Korneichuk, foreign and Russian classics. During the war, many actors
went to the front, and the theater itself carried out active military
sponsorship.
In the post-war years, the production of The Tale of
a Real Man became the most significant event in theatrical life. In the
1950s, Evgeny Evstigneev, a graduate of the Gorky Theater School, made
his debut on the Vladimir stage, and then realized his talent for 4
seasons.
The directors Shakhbazidi, Danilov, Fedorenko,
Elshankin, the actors D. Losik, A. Bokova, B. Solomonov, L. Stepanova,
O. Denisova, N. Tengaev and others left a significant mark in the
history of the theater in the 1950s-1960s. I. Tuimetov gave more than 40
years to the Vladimir stage. In 1971 the theater moved to a new
building. The new stage was opened with the play "Andrei Bogolyubsky".
The 1970s-1980s were marked by the work of such directors as O.
Solovyov, Yu. Pogrebnichko, V. Pazi, M. Moreido, K. Baranov, Yu.
Kopylov, Yu. Galin. Yu. Galin was the first to bring the theater to the
open air, staging the play "The Great Reign". The theater played this
performance in Suzdal for three years, where the territory of the Museum
of Wooden Architecture served as the stage for it.
In 1991,
Alexei Burkov became the chief director of the theater. Many creative
achievements of the theater, which were highly appreciated by both the
audience and theatrical critics, are associated with his name. In 2003,
the theater became a theater complex, which, in addition to the theater,
included a theater-studio under the direction of N. Gorokhov. Boris
Gunin became the director of the Theater Complex.