Nizhny Novgorod State Theater for Young Spectators.

At the beginning of its formation, the only one in the Nizhny Novgorod region, the Nizhny Novgorod State Theater (now the Academic Drama Theater) gave a matinee for children only once a month. The former idol of Nizhny Novgorod residents, entrepreneur, director and first artist N.I. Sobolshchikov-Samarin, who had repeatedly written plays for children and dramatizations of novels for young people. Nikolai Ivanovich firmly decided to educate the future spectators of his theater and expand the troupe with young performers - in order to stage plays for children and have young personnel for episodic roles and crowd scenes of modern plays in the Nizhny Novgorod Drama Theater.

N.I. Sobolshchikov-Samarin took into his troupe a large group of graduates of the Nizhny Novgorod Theater College. A. Strizheva, sisters A. and V. Davydov, P. Kayurov, A. Alexandrov, T. Rozhdestvenskaya and others were accepted into the theater.

In 1927, in a special letter, Sobolshchikov-Samarin addressed young people who had come to the theater again: “My young friends! At your discretion, I submit the following project: I propose to create a performance solely from your strengths... Make an initiative from which in the future you will create a young branch of the Nizhny Novgorod Theater... N. Sobolshchikov-Samarin.” The youth quickly responded to the call of the respected stage master. On May 1, 1928, a public performance of the youth play “The Red Packet” based on the play by G. Bronikovsky and Y. Broshat took place. The performance symbolized the beginning of a new life for the youth of the theater. For the next theater season, Sobolshchikov-Samarin invited a number of more graduates of the Nizhny Novgorod Theater College to perform plays for children. The so-called Tyuz group was headed by the talented director-enthusiast E.A.Bril, the artist G.L.Kigel and the head of the musical department of the theater - composer A.A.Kasyanov. The youth composition of E.A. Brill was strengthened by experienced artists.

November 28, 1928 The first performance took place specifically for children of the newly created Nizhny Novgorod theater.Fonvizin's "Undergrown" was playing. The Nizhny Novgorod Youth Theater became the third theater for children and youth in the country.

In the first season, the young theater group performed 52 performances, while over the entire previous five years the drama theater performed only 35 performances at matinees.

In the early 30s, a large group of young people, graduates and senior students of the theater technical school joined the team. The troupe was joined by: A. Andreev, A. Agapova, A. Kunitsyn, V. Lebsky, V. Rusinov, S. Sachkov, B. Suvorov, M. Tikhonova, S. Fomina, E. Khomutova, V. Khodbko, N. Chekhov, M. Chibisov, as well as the talented amateur actor K. Nikonorov. A large number of directors also changed. Everyone contributed to the work of the young team. The history of the Youth Theater in the pre-war years contains very “multi-colored pages”. At this time, beneficial creative and organizational traditions are laid. Such performances as “Silver Pad” based on the play by N. Pogodin, “The Lonely Sail Whitens” based on the novel by V. Kataev, “The Snow Queen” based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, staged in those years, were mature works of stage art.

From the first days of the Great Patriotic War, new tasks arose for the theater: performing in military units, during defense work, and in front of the wounded. In just four war years, the theater gave 1,250 concerts and performances, 226 of them in the active army. Work was underway on new performances: “Partisans go into the forest”, “A soldier walked from the front”, “A long time ago”, “Immortal”, etc.

In 1948, a new chief director, Honored Artist of the RSFSR V.L. Vitaliev, came to the theater. The theater of Vitaliev's time was heroic and romantic. The director was confident that the most effective education of young hearts was to show the best examples of human behavior. He staged the following performances: “Romeo and Juliet”, “Alexander Sailors”, “How the Steel Was Tempered”, “City at Dawn”, etc. The heroic-patriotic, heroic-romantic direction of the repertoire was preserved in the theater for many years and constituted one of the main feature of his creative appearance.

Then modern works appear on the theater's playbill - plays by V. Rozov, V. Aksenov, M. Shatrov, V. Tendryakov. The theater makes its contribution to dramaturgy by creating performances in close collaboration with the authors. This is how the performances “Alyosha Peshkov” and “In People” appeared based on the biographical stories of M. Gorky, staged by G. Sheftel, “When in the gardens of the Lyceum ...” about A. Pushkin, the poetic performance “About Time and About Oneself,” written and staged by A. Altshuller, Yu. Bespalov, R. Wetzner based on the play by V. Balashov. In the future, the plays of Gorky resident A. Khazanov “You can’t live otherwise” and “Ball”, “Liar” by A. Usov will be performed on the theater stage; from the classics: W. Shakespeare, A.N. Ostrovsky, M. Lermontov, G. Longfellow.

For many years, the creative team of the theater was formed from graduates of the Nizhny Novgorod-Gorky theater school. From the memoirs of theater teacher G.A. Yavorovsky: “Many things in the work of Youth Theater actors, graduates of our theater school, should be discussed in detail: about the acute character of R. Loitskaya, about the soft femininity of O. Treimut, about the thoughtfulness of N. Slavinskaya, about the stormy temperament M. Tareev, about the filigree skill of I. Neganov, about the subtle humor of A. Palees, etc. However, with all the diversity of talents and creative styles of the artists, I would like to note the internal unity of the performing style. This is determined, to a certain extent, by the unity of the Gorky theater school, which relies in its origins on the realistic art of N.I. Sobolshchikov-Samarin, the system of K.S. Stanislavsky.” The literary part of the theater was headed by the future famous head of the Moscow Art Theater named after A.P. Chekhov, President of the Moscow Art Theater School - A.M. Smelyansky - a former student of the studio at the theater.

Director R.Ya. Levite worked fruitfully in the theater for more than 20 years, releasingabout 50 performances. Among them are “Cunning and Love”, “Oleko Dundich”, “The Servant of Two Masters” and others. A large number of plays for children and teenagers were staged by the leading theater artist and director K.V. Kulagin, some of his performances are still on the theater’s playbill.

From 1970 to 1986, B.A. Naravtsevich, People's Artist of Russia, became the main director of the Youth Theater. His very first performance, “The Three Musketeers,” was a real theatrical event in the city; it also demonstrated the basic creative nature of Naravtsevich: bright theatricality, musicality, a fusion of comic and deeply lyrical lines. “Bumbarash”, “The Prince and the Pauper”, “Three Sisters”, “Farewell in June”, “Boycott”, “In the Beginning Was the Word”, “The Song of Danko”, “Hurry to Do Good”, “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and many other performances... together they make up the concept - Naravtsevich Theater. It was he who determined the politics of the theater and its success, and the rare kindness, festivity, and lyricism of the atmosphere of the auditorium and stage. The musical part of the theater was headed by E.B. Fertelmeister, who composed music for many performances. At this time, the team is experiencing a time of takeoff; people learn about its work far beyond the city limits.

In 1978, on its 50th anniversary, the Youth Theater was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor. Then he moved to a new building on M. Gorky Street.

The creative activity of the theater team was marked by many awards: these are 1st degree diplomas at the All-Russian shows in 1958, 1963, awards from the USSR Ministry of Culture for a number of performances, the title of laureate of the III International Festival of Children's and Youth Theaters in Sofia (1976); diplomas from theater festivals and shows of different years in Moscow, Vladimir, Taganrog and other cities of Russia.

In 1986, at the Youth Theater, the first Small Stage in the city opened with the premiere of the play “Anna Snegina” directed by A.R. Palees.

Since the beginning of 1987, the theater has been headed by the chief director, laureate of the State Prize of the RSFSR. K.S.Stanislavsky V.A.Simakin. His first performances - “Tomorrow there was a war”, “Turandot”, “Dreams of Eugenia” - continued the best traditions of the Youth Theater.

Youth Theater is a special theater: its audience is of different ages, and in choosing the repertoire it is necessary to take into account age characteristics and interests, and therefore on the stage of the theater in previous years there were colorful, spectacular fairy tales for the little ones (“Magic Shoes”, “The Little Mermaid”, “Oh Yes”) Brother Rabbit"), and romantic performances with an adventure plot for teenagers ("The Secret of the Castle of Horrors", "Teacher of the 21st Century", "The Thirteenth Star"), for young people - "104 pages about love", "Valentine and Valentina", "Wonderful Alloy”, “Eight Loving Women”, the classics (“The One Who Gets Slaps” by L. Andreev, “Masquerade” by M. Lermontov, “I Don’t Want to Study, I Want to Marry” based on D. Fonvizin’s play “The Minor”) take their rightful place.

In order to increase the diversity of the theatrical repertoire for young people in the 1996-1997 season. The main director of the theater, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation L.S. Belov staged: the musical “The Devil Got Messed” based on the story by R. Shtilmark about the Nizhny Novgorod merchant of the 18th century V. Baranshchikov, the eccentric story “Harold and Maude” (K. Higgins, J.C. .Quarry), theatrical cabaret “Gretchen” based on the play by L. Hübner.

For more than 30 years, the theater was headed by Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation Nina Ivanovna Golovleva as director. Her activities as a manager are characterized by the stability of the theater.

The history of the Nizhny Novgorod Youth Theater will forever preserve the names of wonderful artists who served and serve: M. Zorin, A. Lugovaya, E. Yaroshenko, I. Neganov, K. Kuznetsova, N. Tareev, R. Loitskaya, O. Treimut, O. Dumpe, A .Palees, L.Pavlovskaya, O.Arlakhov, E.Kalabanov, V.Shapovalov, V.Kondrashkin, A.Usov, K.Kulagin, N.Meshcherskaya, O.Beregova L.Remnev, I.Dolganova, E.Firstova, O. Fattakhov, M. Ilyicheva, M. Chernova, A. Chukhnov, and many, many others.

Since 2006, the creative development of the Nizhny Novgorod State Theater for Young Spectators can be characterized by the motto “Another theater!” This means a change in the creative course with a naturally emerging new content, including new dramaturgy, new administrative and creative workers who came to the theater - representatives of a different (not Nizhny Novgorod) theater school. “Other” meanings were reflected in the repertoire of the Youth Theater: for children’s audiences - the Christmas fairy tale “How to get to Bethlehem?” according to the stories of V. Bryusov, an almost circus performance “Horton the Elephant” based on the poems of Dr. Seuss; for youth - the comedy “The Cripple from the Island of Inishmaan” by M. McDonagh, the sexual neuroses of our parents “Angel” by L. Bärfus, performances based on plays by Swedish playwrights who put forward the slogan “a child has the right to tragedy” - the unreality show “The Woman Who Married” for the turkey” by G. Boethius and the play-travel “Hike to Eels-La-Brec” by Thomas Tidholm; as well as “The Last” by M. Gorky, the tragedy “Romeo and Juliet” by W. Shakespeare, the strange story “Three on a Swing” by L. Lunari, “Heart of a Dog” by M. Bulgakov, etc.

The “new social project” declared by the Nizhny Novgorod State Youth Theater has made adjustments to the relationship with the audience. Priority was given not to school trips to the theater with the whole class, but to family visits: most performances were performed on the Small Stage of the theater.

Activities of the Youth Theater for the period 2006-2008. under the artistic direction of the Honored Artist of the Russian Federation V.V. Kokorin, who has a bright directorial style and a unique artistic vision, was awarded many awards. The theater's performances became laureates and diploma winners at the following festivals: the Moscow International Theater Festival for Children "Big Change", the VIII International Festival "Rainbow", the IX International Festival "Voices of History", the IX All-Russian Festival "Real Theatre", the All-Russian Festival of Performances for Children "Harlequin" . In 2008, the performance of the Nizhny Novgorod Theater for Young Spectators “The Last” became a nominee for the National Theater Award “Golden Mask”.

In 2009, V.A. Simakin was again appointed artistic director of the theater. He produced the following plays: “The Golden Key” by A.N. Tolstoy, “How the Wife Saw Her Husband to Paris” based on the stories of V. Shukshin, “Monsieur Amilcar” by I. Zhamiak. At the same time, Vladimir Zolotar, who was the chief director of the theater from 2008 to 2012, staged the following plays: “Heart of a Dog” by M. Bulgakov, “King Lear” by W. Shakespeare, “The Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by M. Twain and others.

Currently, the theater is headed by director A.S. Garyanov, Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation.

The main director of the theater is V.L. Shrayman, a famous Russian theater director, teacher, head of the All-Russian Laboratory of Puppet Theater Directors of the STD of the Russian Federation, vice-president of the International Theater Festival "KukART". For a number of years, V.L. Shriman has been a member of the jury of the National Theater Award “Golden Mask”. In 2013, on the Big Stage of the Youth Theater, V.L. Shrayman produced the play “The Visit” based on the play “The Visit of the Old Lady” by F. Durennematt, which aroused the interest of the viewer and positive reviews from theater critics.

Every month, the Theater for Young Spectators in Nizhny Novgorod delights citizens and guests of the city with various performances. Youth Theater has long taken a strong place in the Nizhny Novgorod cultural life. It rightfully arouses the interest and love of young spectators, and the serious attention of experienced theatergoers in the city.

Youth Theater Poster for June 2019

• Musical "Flying Ship" (6+)

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
The story of Princess Zabava and a simple guy Ivan - “not-a-fool-yet-not-a-prince,” who sincerely love each other. Their love haunts the Tsar - he wants to make his only daughter the happy wife of a rich merchant! The rich groom himself - the vain Polkan - is not against marrying the heiress to the throne, and will stop at nothing on the way to his goal. This life-affirming musical is about how true love can work miracles. When magic rushes to love's aid, the impossible becomes real, and even those born to swim can take off.

• Musical "Cinderella" (6+)

Duration: 1 hour 35 minutes
Director Vladimir Chervyakov decided to tell this magical tale in his own way. The director took the original fairy tale by Charles Perrault as a basis.
The adventures of our Cinderella begin on the eve of Christmas, when there is magic in the air, and dreams can easily become reality. Miracles happen, and there are glass slippers, fairy godmothers, and pumpkin carriages. But after the twelfth stroke of the clock, the magic of this night invariably evaporates, and only our heroine remains, alone, in the fight for her happiness and love. Is Cinderella destined to find happiness?

• Musical tale "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" (6+)

Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes
Based on an Arabian fairy tale. The director of the play, Vladimir Chervyakov, characterizes his production this way: “This is a detective story. In accordance with the classics of the genre, the viewer will find out the answer to the main question at the very end of the performance.”

• Performance "Wolf, Rock and Roll and Little Goats" (6+)

The Nizhny Novgorod Theater for Young Spectators was created on the initiative of the famous Nizhny Novgorod actor, director, entrepreneur N.I. Sobolshchikov-Samarin in 1928. The team was headed by director E. Brill. Later, the theater was led by V. Vitaliev for a long time, and since 1972, the main director has been Boris Naravtsevich. The brightest stage in the life of the theater is associated with his name. Over the 15 years of work at the Youth Theater, Naravtsevich staged more than 40 performances, many of which became events, trained his actors, and managed to return to the viewer the feeling of theater as a holiday.
Later the theater was led by V. Simakin and L. Belov.
In 2006, Vyacheslav Kokorin, Honored Artist, laureate of the National Theater Award “Golden Mask”, was appointed chief director of the Nizhny Novgorod Youth Theater.
Many young artists came to the troupe - his students, as well as graduates of the Nizhny Novgorod Theater School, who today are actively involved in the repertoire along with such masters as People's Artist of the Russian Federation Leonid Remnev, Honored Artists of the Russian Federation Natalya Meshcherskaya, Lyudmila Pavlovskaya, Evgeny Kalabanov and others.
Since November 2006, the Youth Theater has produced 10 new performances. Young directors from Moscow and St. Petersburg were invited to the productions.
With the premiere of the play “Angel” based on the play by Lukas Bärfuss, the “New Social Project” came into force. Spectator discussions and frank conversations after the performance proved both the correctness of the director's choice and the viewer's interest in sharp, bold, relevant modern theater. The screening of the best performances of the New Drama festival on the stage of the Youth Theater announced the start of the ARTstART project, within the framework of which the theater plans to show Russian and foreign artists working in various fields of art at its venues. Project “Another Youth Theater”: a modern concept of the Swedish Children's Theater in a series of seminars on modern children's drama and master classes with the participation of colleagues from Sweden. The plays “The Woman Who Married a Turkey” and “The Trip to Eels-La-Brecque”, staged as part of a Swedish project, won diplomas at the Moscow International Theater Festival for Children “Big Change”. In 2007, the play “The Last” by M. Gorky, directed by V. Kokorin, took part in the International Theater Festival “Rainbow” (St. Petersburg), became a laureate of the International Festival “Voices of History” (Vologda) and a nominee for the National Theater Award “Golden Mask” " (Moscow). The children's play "Horton the Elephant", which is based on the poems of Dr. Seuss, became a laureate of the Festival of Performances for Children "I'm Small, Hello!" (New Urengoy).
In September 2007, the Nizhny Novgorod Youth Theater held the IX All-Russian festival “Real Theatre”.