Gorky Kuibyshev Dramatic Theater

founded in 1851 in Samara (present-day Kuibyshev). A special wooden theater building erected in 1855 was replaced by a stone structure in 1888 (architect, M. N. Chichagov).

Before the Great October Socialist Revolution private touring companies and guest artists performed in Samaras, including P. A. Strepetova, M. I. Pisarev, V. F. Komissarzhevskaia, A. P. Lenskii, P. N. Orlenev, and I. Aldridge. Theater reviews and articles by Gorky were published in the Samarskaia gazeta in 1895 and 1896.

In the early 1930’s a permanent troupe was organized at the theater. Its members included N. K. Simonov (the director from 1932 to 1933), Iu. V. Tolubeev, V. V. Merkur’ev, A. F. Kistov, V. P. Sharlakhov, and V. S. Nel’skii. An active propagandist of Gorky’s works, the theater (which adopted the writer’s name in 1936) presented his plays and adaptations of his other works, including Egor Bulychov and the Others (1933 and 1962), Vassa Zheleznova (1936 and 1947), Children of the Sun (1936 and 1952), Enemies (1936 and 1954), Barbarians (1937 and 1951), The Last Ones (1939 and 1955), The Lower Depths (1943), The Zykovs (1950), The Artamonov Business (1959), Mother (1964), and Foma Gordeev (1968).

A wide range of Soviet plays have been performed, including Kron’s Deep Reconnaissance (1941), Kremlev’s Fort on the Volga (1948), Shtein’s Personal Case (1954), and Pogodin’s The Third Pathétique (1958, with A. I. Demich playing Lenin). Among the theater’s most significant productions was Shakespeare’s Richard III (1962).

Among the actors who have worked at the Gorky Kuibyshev Dramatic Theater are M. V. Arenskii, V. A. Bure, N. N. Kolesnikov, G. A. Shebuev, V. I. Kuznetsov, Z. K. Chekmasova, and V. A. Mikhailov. In 1972 the members of the permanent troupe included People’s Artist of the RSFSR V. A. Ershova, as well as A. I. Demich, N. N. Zasukhin, and S. I. Ponomarev. Since 1959 (with one break), People’s Artist of the RSFSR P. L. Monastyrskii has been chief director of the theater.