Moscow Puppet Theater

Founder's career

The founder of the Moscow Puppet Theater Viktor Aleksandrovich Schweberger was born in Stavropol on January 23, 1892. In the summer of 1898, his family moved to Pyatigorsk , where Schwemberger first saw a traveling puppet theater. In 1912, the young man moved to Moscow and, having visited the play “Navigate the Enchantment” by Fyodor Sologub at Fyodor Komissarzhevsky’s Studio, decided to become an actor. His candidacy was approved the next day, but soon Schwemberger left for Yevgeny Vakhtangov's Studio. In 1918, he voluntarily entered the 25th light artillery division in Moscow, and at the beginning of 1919 was sent to Ukraine . In Kiev, he met with Konstantin Mardzhanov and received an offer to become an actor in a mobile theater ^{[2] [3]} .

At the end of 1919, Schwemberger ended up in Chernigov , where he was offered to head the state drama theater . Together with this theater, Schwemberger organized a drama studio, and then the Puppet Theater of Sotsvos, that is, socialist education. The sculptor Georgy Neroda made several dolls for Schwemberger's studio: Petrushka , the Doctor - pharmacist , Gorodovoy , and the dog Shavochka. Work with dolls entered into studio classes. Schwemberger's plans included the creation of puppet shows in classical literature, including works by Nikolai Gogol , Moliere , Anton Chekhov and Alexander Kuprin ^{[3] [2]} .

Children's Book Theater

In the summer of 1922, Victor Schwemberger returned to Moscow. One year he worked in the 3rd studio of the Moscow Art Theater , then moved to the Studio of Ruben Simonov . In the late 1920s, he attempted to stage a puppet show in the manner of an Italian comedy of improvisation . In 1929, the State Publishing House introduced the idea of ​​creating a puppet theater to promote children's literature. Victor Schwemberger and his wife Nadezhda Sazonova set about creating the Moscow Theater of Children's Books. The artist Sergey Zadonin and the roving puppeteer Ivan Zaitsev helped them in this, support was provided by the head of the State Publishing House Artemy Khalatov ^{[3] [1]} .

Victor became a director and, taking the plots from the children's magazine “ Hedgehog ” as the basis, wrote the play “Hedgehog, Petrushka and Two Monkeys” ^{[3] [4] [5] [6]} . The performance was shown on February 8, 1930 in the building of the State Publishing House. He not only acquainted the audience with the magazine and several children's books, but also introduced children to reading books and instilled a careful attitude towards them ^{[7] [1]} . Initially, there was one brigade in the theater, the work of which was paid by the State Publishing House. The performances themselves were free of charge. But popularity grew, and a month after the opening, two more brigades appeared. To emphasize the relationship of the theater with the State Publishing House, he was named after the head of the organization Artemy Khalatov ^[8] .

In May 1930, the First All-Russian Conference of Puppet Theater Workers was held, at which a decision was made to organize the Central Puppet Theater on the basis of the Children's Book Theater. It was an experimental laboratory of the puppet genre, the results of which could be used by other theaters. The first performances of the collective were approved by Maxim Gorky , and Sergei Mikhalkov , Samuel Marshak , Mikhail Svetlov , Nina Gernet and other authors collaborated with the theater ^{[9] [3] [10]} .

1st Moscow Puppet Theater

September 30, 1930 the theater received the status of a professional , moved to a stationary building on the Petrovsky Lines - a mansion built in 1868 - and was registered as the First Puppet Theater in Moscow. Viktor Shvemberger remained the artistic director, and Agniya Mikhailovna Vitman remained the director. The troupe consisted of three teams of two people each: a puppeteer actor and a cymbalist- harmonist who worked in front of the screen ^{[3] [4]} . A year later, the theater was designed as an independent organization under the leadership of the OGIZ . Actors went on tour across the country. The main character of the performances was Petrushka, but, unlike the classic tramp, he appeared before the audience as a traveler. On March 18, 1932, the solemn 1000th performance took place, on which the reports “The Problem of the Soviet Children's Theater”, “The Work of the Theater of the Children's Book for 2 Years of Existence” were read, as well as excerpts from the plays “Hedgehog and Petrushka” and “We are on guard of the five-year plan” " ^{[11] [12]} . In the autumn of the same year, the organization was transferred to the School sector of the People's Commissariat of Education and included in the system of institutions at the Central House of Art Education of Children of the RSFSR named after Andrei Bubnov . In the same year, the theater began to serve 32 pioneer camps , and the next year - 127 on the instructions of the Moscow Regional House of Artistic Education of Children and several dozens from other organizations. After the performances, the children were offered to perform sketches based on the performances they saw. The drawings were kept in the theater ^{[13] [14] [15]} .

By 1933 there were about ten productions in the theater’s repertoire: “Hedgehog and Petrushka”, “Always Ready”, “Parsley the Traveler”, “To All, All, All - Sowing, Sowing, Sowing!”, “Three Revolutions”, “Order by Army ”,“ Star Builders Factory ”,“ Problem ”and others. They promoted, interpreted and showed children's books of various authors ^[16] . At the same time, the director considered the puppet theater a kind of drama and did not agree with the requirements of the State Publishing House to limit the repertoire. Due to disagreements in the spring of 1933, Victor Schwemberger left the First Puppet Theater in Moscow in order to create his own, with a fundamentally different, serious repertoire, his place was taken by Sergey Rozanov ^{[3] [15]} . In 1937, the theater was renamed the 1st Moscow Puppet Theater, Nikolay Mikhailovich Savin became the main director ^[1] .

During World War II, the theater performed anti-fascist programs in hospitals, propaganda centers and units of the army. The first military concert program appeared a week after the outbreak of war. Leading artist of the theater Sergey Zadonin formed a front-line brigade, which went to the front in August 1941, but in September the actors were surrounded and died. From 1942 to 1944, the director of the theater was Eugene Demmen . The actors worked together with the Leningrad Puppet Theater, evacuated from the besieged Leningrad , and received a temporary joint stationary room - on Nikolskaya Street , 25 ^[1] .

In 1953, the head of the theater was the honored artist Viktor Gromov . For nine years of work, he trained a galaxy of puppeteers, among whom are honored artists of Russia : Anna Burova, Julia Feoktistova, Tatyana Linnik and others ^[1] .

Moscow Puppet Theater

In 1954, the theater last changed its name to the modern one - the Moscow Puppet Theater ^[5] . Four years later, he became a member of the International Union of Puppet Theater Workers UNIMA ^[17] . In 1962, the theater moved to a building on Spartakovskaya Street , and Boris Ablynin became the main director, he worked in this position for four years. Under his leadership, in 1964, an acting studio was organized at the theater, which later became an independent theater-studio "Lark". The next chief director was appointed Honored Artist of the Georgian SSR Avksenty Gamsakhurdia. With him in 1974 the Small Stage of the theater opened. From 1978 to 1979, the main director was Yuri Nabokov ^[1] .

In 1980, by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Moscow Puppet Theater was awarded the Order of Honor for its merits in the moral and aesthetic education of the younger generation and in connection with the 50th anniversary of the theater. In the mid-1980s, Vladimir Stein, creator of the Magic Lamp puppet theater, was the main director. From 1986 to 1991, the theater was directed by director Leonid Khait , the founder of the "Theater on Wheels" People and Puppets. The Moscow Puppet Theater often went on tour across Russia and abroad: to Canada , Poland , Czechoslovakia , the USA , Germany , South Korea , Hong Kong , Taiwan and other countries. In 1991, Vyacheslav Kryuchkov, director, actor, and professor of the RATI , became the art director ^[1] .

In the spring of 2012, the head of the Department of Culture of the city of Moscow Sergey Kapkov decided to modernize the Moscow Puppet Theater. The management was completely replaced, and Grigory Papish was appointed director. He, in turn, introduced a new form of management, which included the creation of a production theater, as well as a certain development concept in the absence of a single artistic director of the theater ^{[18] [1]} .

The building on Spartakovskaya Street was repaired, new interactive platforms were created for involving children in some performances. The director planned to attract various age groups of spectators to the theater and created the “baby theater” genre for children under three years of age. In addition, according to the social program, a "performance with closed eyes" "May Night" was staged. It was an experimental work, which consisted in the fact that the audience is blindfolded on the stage, and the actors interact with them, which makes the production accessible to blind people. In November 2012, the building hosted the first international festival of puppet theaters with the participation of world-famous collectives. Subsequently, festivals began to be held every two years ^{[18] [4] [19]} .

In March 2014, Grigory Papish was fired, in the same month Boris Kirkin, the former head of the Obraztsov Puppet Theater, became the director of the theater ^[20] . The art director was Boris Goldovsky , president of the Obraztsova Center. In 2014, the play “May Night” won five special prizes of the Russian national theater prize “Harlequin” ^[21] . In July 2017, the post of director was taken by Lyudmila Redko ^[1] . After the successful implementation of the experimental performance for the blind, “May Night”, the performance “Hedgehog in the Fog” was reworked in the same format, which in the same year became the winner of the Russian national theater award “ Golden Mask ” in the category “Dolls / Director's Work” ^{[22] [5] [23]} . In the summer of 2018, the Theater Laboratory MTK.Next was held in the theater: young puppeteers presented their own sketches of performances, the best entered the repertoire of the theater ^[24] .

For 2018, the theater has the Big and Small stages. Performances are held for spectators from a year to 16 years. The repertoire consists of traditional puppet shows and original productions in modern forms ^{[4] [1]} .

Guide

Troupe

• Wittman A.M. Children's Book Theater. - M. , 1934. - 144 p. - 3080 copies.
• Goldovsky B. History of Puppet Theater Dramaturgy . - M. , 2007 .-- 430 p.
• Goldovsky B. Directorial art of the puppet theater of Russia of the XX century . - M: Gordovsky B.P. “VINE GRAPH”, 2013. - ISBN 978-5-9904616-1-1 .
• Lobanov A. Moscow Theater of the Children's Book “Magic Lamp” // First of September: newspaper. - 1999. - No. 25 .