Moscow Pushkin Dramatic Theater

a theater created in 1950 from the Moscow Chamber Theater (founded 1914). In 1950–51, the theater was headed by V. V. Vanin. Its leading actors were A. D. Dikii, B. P. Chirikov, M. M. Nazvanov, and B. A. Smirnov; its chief stage directors were B. A. Babochkin (1952–53) and I. M. Tumanov (1953–60). Among the theater’s outstanding productions were Saltykov-Shchedrin’s Shadows (1953) and Chekhov’s Ivanov (1955).

The most important figure in the theater’s history was B. I. Ravenskikh, its chief stage director from 1960 to 1970. During this period, the theater’s repertoire included Mdivani’s Teresa’s Birthday (1961), Virgin Soil Upturned (1964; based on Sholokhov’s novel), Leonov’s The Snowstorm (1967), Mdivani’s Big Mama (1971), Balashov’s The Legend of Paganini (1971), and Ravenskikh and Ancharov’s Dramatic Song (1971; based on works by N. A. Ostrovskii), Ostrovskii’s Bondwomen (1972), and Lipatov and Abramov’s A Militia Story (1973).

In 1974, the theater company included People’s Artists of the RSFSR Iu. I. Averin, L. S. Antoniuk, O. A. Viklandt, L. O. Gritsenko, and L. A. Skopina, Honored Artist of the RSFSR V. A. Abramov, S. K. Bubnov, A. I. Kochetkov, M. M. Kuznetsova, F. M. Mokeev, N. K. Prokopovich, and G. A. Ianikovskii, and Honored Artist of the Latvian SSR A. R. Augshkap. Since 1971, the theater’s chief stage director has been Honored Artist of the RSFSR B. N. Tolmazov.