Shchepkin Theatrical School

the school of the State Academic Malyi Theater. One of the oldest institutions of higher theatrical education in the USSR, the Shchepkin Theatrical School is inseparably linked with the development of theatrical education in Russia and with the history of the Malyi Theater. Its origin dates from 1773, when a theatrical school was established at the Moscow Orphanage. In 1809 this school was reorganized as the Moscow Theatrical School, which provided training in dancing, music, and drama.

From the 1830’s until his death in 1863, M. S. Shchepkin taught at the school, which has borne his name since 1938. In 1863 he had the school moved to a new building on Neglinnaia Street. Constructed in the 1820’s, the school and the Malyi Theater have been preserved as part of Moscow’s theatrical center, designed by O. I. Bove. The most prominent actors in the history of the Malyi Theater studied in the school. They included V. I. Zhivokini, S. V. Shumskii, N. V. Medvedeva, P. V. Vasil’ev, S. V. Vasil’ev, G. N. Fedotova, N. A. Nikulina, M. N. Ermolova, A. A. Ostuzhov, A. A. Iablochkin, V. N. Ryzhova, E. D. Turchaninova, M. F. Lenin, Iu. M. Iur’ev, and L. M. Leonidov.

After the Great October Socialist Revolution, the school became the first Soviet institute of theatrical education, and in 1943 it was designated an institute of higher learning. Its teachers included I. V. Samarin, G. N. Fedotova, A. P. Lenskii, V. N. Pashennaia, N. F. Kostromskoi, K. A. Zubov, V. I. Tsygankov, A. D. Dikii, L. I. Deikun, A. I. Blagonravov, and T. A. Dynnik.

In the 1975–76 academic year the school had 171 students and 70 teachers, including such senior artists of the Malyi Theater and teachers as M. I. Tsarev, N. A. Annenkov, L. A. Volkov, M. N. Gladkov, G. N. Dmitriev, and D. M. Golovina.