Theatres in cheboksary

Cheboksary is the cultural centre of the Chuvash Republic. 5 state professional theatres are situated here. They are the Chuvash Opera House, the Chuvash Drama Theatre, the Russian Drama Theatre, the Youth and the Puppet Theatres.

The youngest and the most beautiful one is the Chuvash Opera House. In 1959 the Chuvash State Academic Drama Theatre was reorganized into Music and Drama Theatre. The new creative life began. Professional actors cooperated with amateurs. On the 22nd of May 1960 the first night of the first Chuvash opera Water mill composed by Vasiliev was held, the libretto was written by A. Alga. That day became the birthday of the new professional Chuvash Musical Theatre. The first opera was followed by Evgeny Onegin by Tchaikovsky, "Chapay" by Mokrousov, and Narspi by Hirbyu.

In 1960s in Leningrad Choreographic College named after A. Vaganova future actors for Chuvash ballet were trained. In 1970 the audience of Cheboksary saw the first national ballet Sarpigue to the music by Vasilyev.

The Chief Producer and Artistic Manager Boris Markov played an important role in forming the Chuvash Opera House.

In 1985 the theatre received a new white marble building of peculiar architecture on the high bank of the bay.

The repertoire of the theatre today is opera and ballet performances by Russian, Chuvash and foreign authors. International Opera Festivals have become a tradition. They are devoted to our countryman, a singer of the Bolshoy Opera House Maksim Dormidontovich Mikhailov (1893-1971). He was born in the village of Koltsovka of the Vurnary district.

The nearest to the Opera House is the Chuvash State Order of the Red Banner Drama Theatre named after Konstantin Ivanov. It is situated on the other side of the bay in Red Square. It was founded in 1918 in Kazan. The first actor and stage manager was a student of Kazan College of Arts Maximov-Koshkinsky.

In 1920 the theatre moved to Cheboksary. During the years of hard creative work many performances and plays by Russian and foreign classics, translated into Chuvash were staged. In 1933 the theatre was given the honour of being called academic, in 1959 it was named after K. Ivanov, the founder of the Chuvash literature, the author of the poem Narspi.

In 1961 the theatre moved into a new building, where it is situated now. In 1977 it was awarded with the Order of the Red Banner of Labour.

The Russian Drama Theatre in Cheboksary was formed by a troupe of professional actors and amateurs of the Russian Drama, who rehearsed and staged plays in Cheboksary at the beginning of the 20^th century in the house of merchant Kluyev and then in People's House.

The date of its organization is considered to be 1922, when the Russian Drama Theatre began its first session.

The first stage manager was an actor from St.Petersburg Slobodskoy. Since 1937 the artistic manager of the theatre became Tokmakov, a graduate of the studio of the Maly Art Theatre.

In the years of World War II more than 300 plays were staged by actors of the Russian Drama Theatre in military units and hospitals of the country.

In 1982 for merits and development of home theatrical art the Russian Drama Theatre was awarded with the Badge of Honour. Now it is located in Gagarin Street.

The Puppet Theatre is situated in Uritsky Street in a beautiful building. The repertoire of the theatre includes 37 performances and show programmes for children.

The Youth Theatre named after Sespel doesn't have its own building. It functions in the Palace of Culture of the Cheboksary Tractor Plant; its director is Vyacheslav Orinov. The leading actors are Sv. Savelyeva, Vyacheslav Pavlov. Plays by Russian, Chuvash and foreign playwrights are staged there.

The Chuvash State Philharmonic Society was created in 1936. It supervises the work of a number of folklore groups. Now it comprises the folklore ensemble Syaval, the group Sespel, ensembles Chuvash Yen and Yalan, a theatre of miniatures. The building of the Philharmonic Society is relatively new. It was built in 1982 and is situated in the most picturesque part of Cheboksary, on the bay embankment.

The Chuvash Republic possesses quite a high cultural potential. There is also an academic choir, a state chamber orchestra of ancient and modern music.