Moscow will celebrate the 270th anniversary of the capital's theater on Strastnoy

On January 26, the Strastnoy Theater will host an event dedicated to the 270th anniversary of the first public theater in Moscow. The gala evening "The Birth of the Moscow Theater" will bring together on one stage the masters of the stage and future stars — students, graduates and teachers of the leading theatrical universities of the capital. The evening will become one of the central cultural events of the year, which also marks the 150th anniversary of the Union of Theatrical Figures of Russia.

Among the concert participants are students, teachers, and graduates of the Shchepkin Higher Theater School (at the Maly Theater), and the Shchepkin Theater Institute. Boris Shchukin (at the Theater named after Vakhtangov), the Moscow Art Theater Studio School, the Konstantin Raikin Higher School of Performing Arts, and the actors of the BRIDGE Theater, the direct heir to the Moscow University Theater.

The anniversary evening will be attended by People's Artist of Russia, teacher and professor of the Moscow Art Theater School Avangard Leontiev, People's Artist of Russia Elena Sanaeva, Professor and head of the Acting Department of the Boris Shchukin Theater Institute Pavel Lyubimtsev, as well as Honored Artist of Russia, Director of the Moscow Art Theater Museum Pavel Vashchilin and other famous theater figures.

The evening was supported by Vladimir Mashkov, Chairman of the Union of Theatrical Figures of Russia. The organizer of the festive event is the Charitable Foundation for the Development of the Moscow State University Student Theater.

The cultural project "The Birth of the Moscow Theater" reflects a landmark milestone in the annals of the Russian theater: on January 26, 1756, a student troupe led by the rector, poet Mikhail Kheraskov, gave the first public performance of The Newcomers at Moscow University. This date is considered the birthday not only of the university, but also of the entire public theatrical life in Moscow, which laid the foundation for the theater education system.

The audience will travel through the epochs: from the first student performances of Moscow University in 1756 through the pages of the formation of the professional theater of the XIX century and the landmark numbers of academic schools of the XX century to the bold experiments of today, combining drama, movement, vocals and new technologies. The evening will feature a model of a Russian theater school recognized worldwide: a school that "grows" from a live theater, ensuring continuity of traditions and depth of artistic development.

"This evening is a sincere conversation about the traditions of theatrical education and about the people who shape its current appearance. I think that the event called "The Birth of the Moscow Theater" has every reason to become a good annual tradition – a point of cultural attraction, an important urban event and a space for dialogue between generations, art schools and creative approaches," said Irina Bolshakova, co—founder of the MOST Theater and the Charitable Foundation for the Development of the Moscow State University Student Theater, the organizer of the evening.