Hermitage Theater auditorium. Hermitage Theater (Hall on Arbat)

History of the Hermitage Theater
The Moscow Hermitage Theater was created by director and writer Mikhail Levitin. The theater traces its history back to 1959, when the Moscow Theater of Miniatures, headed by Vladimir Polyakov, appeared in the very center of Moscow, in the Hermitage garden. The history of the building in Karetny Ryad remembers the great artists of the 20th century: it was here that the Moscow Art Theater opened on October 14, 1898, and the Mardzhanov Free Theater in 1913, where the first meeting of Alexander Tairov and Alisa Koonen took place. In the early 20s, on this stage Sergei Eisenstein staged his first production - the play “The Mexican”... The Hermitage building also remembers many, many others. Currently, the historical theater building in Karetny Ryad is closed for repairs and reconstruction. Therefore, since 2016, the theater has temporarily settled on another site at Novy Arbat 11.

Repertoire of the Hermitage Theater
The Hermitage is an author's theater, recreated by Mikhail Levitin, who breathed new life and a special author's aesthetics into it. The theater is vibrant and sometimes eccentric, once called “the most elegant avant-garde” theater in the country. The repertoire includes performances based on the most complex prose texts, which were spoken in theatrical language for the first time, and premieres based on famous classical plays from the world repertoire. Among the authors are Daniil Kharms, Yuri Olesha, Alexander Vvedensky, Alexander Pushkin, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Evgeny Schwartz, William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes, Bertolt Brecht, Gabriel Marquez and many others. Alfred Schnittke, Vladimir Dashkevich, Yuliy Kim and Andrei Semenov wrote music for the Hermitage performances. The scenery was created by artists David Borovsky and Alexander Borovsky, Boris Messerer, Harry Gummel, Sergey Barkhin.

Mikhail Levitin is a Russian theater director, writer, teacher, People's Artist of Russia, artistic director of the Moscow Hermitage Theater. Author of numerous publications in periodicals and nineteen books of prose. Creator and presenter of original series of television programs on the Kultura TV channel. Recipient of the Order of Honor and twice winner of the Moscow Prize for Literature (in 2010 for a book about Alexander Tairov and in 2017 for a book about Pyotr Fomenko).

His directorial career began with the graduation play “On how Mr. Mockinpott got rid of his misfortunes,” staged in 1969 at the famous Taganka Theater by Yuri Lyubimov. After this there were a number of brilliant performances in Moscow, Riga, Odessa, Leningrad, Omsk, Novosibirsk and other cities; Almost every one of these productions, created under the difficult conditions of Soviet censorship, became an event in the theatrical world.

Mikhail Levitin has been at the Moscow Hermitage Theater (then the Miniature Theater) since 1978. On this stage he staged such famous performances as “Kharms!” Charms! Shardam! or School of Clowns" by D. Kharms (1982), "The Beggar, or the Death of Zand" by Y. Olesha (1986), "Evening in a Madhouse" by A. Vvedensky (1989) and many others - in total more than sixty performances. Recent theater premieres include “My Shadow” by E. Schwartz (2013), “King Lear” by W. Shakespeare (2014), ““Krechinsky’s Wedding” on Novy Arbat 11” by A. Sukhovo-Kobylin (2016), “Don Quixote” by M. de Cervantes (2017) and many others.

During the artistic leadership of the Hermitage Theater, Mikhail Levitin gathered around himself a unique creative team and created a truly original theater, whose performances were appreciated not only by the Moscow public, but also by spectators in many cities of our country, as well as in Europe and Latin America, which the theater visited on tour.

How to get to the Stage on Arbat of the Hermitage Theater
The theater building is located a few minutes walk from the Arbatskaya metro station. After you exit the metro, you will need to cross the road through the underground passage and walk straight along the pedestrian Arbat.

During its existence, the Hermitage has repeatedly changed its appearance. In 2016, the main building was closed for major renovations. Instead, guests are welcomed by the new Great Hall on Arbat.

Although the building itself is not very large, there is enough space in the hall for everyone. High lift and good organization of space allow you to enjoy watching performances from anywhere in the hall. A unique feature is the circular stage, thanks to which all the action takes place not somewhere on the side, but directly in the center. This allows the viewer to go even deeper into what is happening and feel not like an outside observer, but an actor in the production.

Guests describe the atmosphere as homely. There is a cloakroom in the lobby, and the buffet sells delicious cakes and buns that you can snack on during intermission.

In addition, viewers note:

• clear sound;
• unsurpassed acting;
• comfortable chairs;
• light intimacy;
• interesting repertoire.

If you want to see theater in the full sense of the word, then the Hermitage is what you need.

How to order tickets to the Moscow Hermitage on kassir.ru?

Thanks to our service, you can get tickets in advance and without leaving your home. Placing an order is quite simple. You just need to select a performance and a place in the auditorium, as well as indicate a convenient method of payment and receipt of a ticket. You can order your ticket delivered to your home, pick it up at the theater box office, or receive an electronic version to your mailbox.

We also provide an installment service, thanks to which you no longer need to save up for a ticket and postpone its purchase. Book your seats today and pay tomorrow, so you have no more reasons to put off attending the premiere.

If your plans suddenly change and you cannot attend the performance with a pre-purchased ticket, contact the administrators of kassir.ru. If there are more than 7 days left before the presentation, you can receive their full cost in cash or on a bank card (depending on the method of purchase).

Take advantage of our service - buy tickets to the best productions! Get the opportunity to be in the very center of events with kassir.ru!

The Hermitage Theater, whose building is being renovated, will begin staging its performances on December 2 at the new venue (previously rented by Helikon Opera). The premises were transferred to the theater by the Moscow City Property Department. The corresponding signs have already appeared on Novy Arbat, 11, building 1. Meanwhile, work continues in the historical Hermitage building: beams of a unique design were recently installed above the Great Hall.

It became known back in the summer that the Hermitage Theater would move to New Arbat for the duration of the renovation. Initially it was assumed that the first performances on this stage could be seen in September. Now the exact premiere date has become known - December 2. It will take place a month after Helikon Opera moved from Arbat and opened the season in its restored mansion on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street.

In 2011, an examination showed that the building of the Hermitage Theater, located in Karetny Ryad, has several serious problems. One of the main ones is that the supporting structures of the Great Hall are overloaded by 30%, as a result of which they sag by half a meter. Even then, it was planned to make the temporary venue of the Hermitage the space on Novy Arbat, where Helikon Opera staged performances, in whose building the work was also carried out. But the restoration of the opera house took a long time. Performances of the Hermitage were staged on the Small Stage and sometimes at other venues. In February 2015, the theater building was completely closed for renovation.

“Currently, work is underway to restore the repertoire and rehearsals. But we are very pleased that we have a permanent site in the center of Moscow. I think we will restore our entire repertoire. Moreover, the building on Novy Arbat previously housed both the Et Cetera theater and then the Helikon Opera, so, for example, from the point of view of sound, everything is fine. But, of course, you have to redo something to suit yourself,” said Dmitry Khovansky, editor of the literary and dramatic section of the Hermitage Theater. He noted that thanks to Dmitry Bertman, artistic director of Helikon Opera, and the Moscow Department of Culture, all issues were quickly resolved in favor of the theater. By the way, two years ago, the deputy artistic director of Helikon Opera, Victoria Pavlova, said that in her presence the department of culture expressed a desire to make a reserve site for theaters on Novy Arbat.

“The stage and auditorium, every room and dressing room, every centimeter of the walls, floor and ceiling of our theater building on Arbat are gradually absorbing the atmosphere of the Hermitage,” this is how the work currently taking place in the theater is characterized. In the fall, the first rehearsal of the play based on A. V. Sukhovo-Kobylin’s play “Krechinsky’s Wedding” took place on the new stage. On December 2, viewers will be able to see the recent premiere - C. S.S.R. is a performance based on Soviet operettas, each of which relates to a certain period of history. Also on Arbat you will be able to see performances that the theater could not stage for a long time due to renovations.

Work is currently underway in the historical building. As previously reported by the press service of the Moscow construction complex, they are planned to be completed in 2017. Builders will have to repair the facades and interiors of the building, recreate lost elements of artistic design, restore parts of the main entrance, and also create comfortable conditions for people with disabilities. It is also necessary to improve the energy efficiency of the building and improve the area. This fall, builders completed one of the most important stages of renovation of the historical building - new beams, almost 17 meters long, of a unique unsupported structure were installed above the Great Hall of the theater.

REFERENCE
The building of the Hermitage Theater is the oldest in the territory of the garden of the same name, a historical monument of the late 19th century. On October 26, 1898, the Moscow Public Art Theater was opened there with the premiere of the play “Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich”, under the direction of K. S. Stanislavsky and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. On the same stage, the premieres of A.P. Chekhov’s plays “The Seagull” and “Uncle Vanya” took place. On September 13, 1959, the Moscow Theater of Miniatures was founded there. In October 1987, the theater was renamed Hermitage.

The Hermitage Theater first announced itself back in 1959. But then it was called differently - the Moscow Theater of Miniatures. At the initial stage of its existence, his acting troupe consisted of only 12 young people who graduated from theater universities. The director at that time was V. Polyakov. And in 1987, under the leadership of M. Livitin, the theater changed its name to “Hermitage” and rightfully began to be called the author’s theater.

Many of the theater's performances staged in those days were a sensation for the theater capital. On the posters the public saw not only the names of forgotten writers, based on whose works the performance was staged, but also the original and extraordinary Livitin form.

Today the Hermitage Theater successfully stages each of its performances. He frequently tours throughout the country and abroad. And over the past few years, residents of the USA, Paraguay, Canada, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Uruguay, France, Israel, Colombia, Cuba, Germany and other countries have become acquainted with the work of this theater venue. Criticism in Russia and the West has noticed the relationship between the aesthetics of the theater and the traditions of avant-gardeism in our country, which dates back to the 20s. last century. Therefore, it is not for nothing that in Switzerland the Hermitage was awarded the title of the most sophisticated theater venue, despite the fact that in Spain it was called the “Absolute Theater”.

Today on the stage of the Hermitage you can see diverse performances, each of which is distinguished by liveliness, dynamism and an individual approach. And among the abundance of productions in the repertoire of this theater venue, each viewer will choose a performance in their favorite genre. And you can see the poster for the coming days on the pages of our website. Here, having chosen the performance you like, you can buy tickets at any time convenient for you and do not have to stand in long lines at the Hermitage ticket office.

The Hermitage Garden, which houses the theater of the same name, was founded in 1892 by Yakov Shchukin. He arranged a lease and subsequent purchase of private property in Karetny Ryad, becoming the founder of an entire theater complex. Here, for the first time in Moscow, the invention of the Lumiere brothers - cinematography - was presented. The opera troupe of Prince Tsereteli shone on the stage of the Shchukin Theater, benefit performances were held by F.I. Shalyapin. Many talented artists of that time were involved in the design of the scenery in the theater (Roerich, Vrubel, Vasnetsov, Levitan, Serov, Korovin Balmont, etc.). The Moscow Art Theater (MAT) spent its first seasons on the stage of the Shchukin “Miniature Theatre”. The theater complex has been preserved and retained, even after all historical incidents such as revolution and coup, its theatrical function as conceived and created by Yakov Shchukin.

Many years later, in 1987, Levitin became the artistic director of the Shchukin Theater of Miniatures. In the same year, the theater was renamed and given the name “Hermitage”. The first performances staged here dramatically changed the direction of the theater, thereby expanding the circle of spectators. Levitin is not only a literary director, but also a writer-director, which makes his theater truly original and unique. Levitin staged many performances based on his own dramatizations and plays. They are still in the repertoire of the Hermitage Theater such as “Leocadia and Ten Shameless Scenes”, “The Monster”, “Anatomical Theater of Engineer Yevno Azef”, “Snapshot of God”, “Secret Notes of the Privy Councilor”, Moscow Hermitage Theater "also tours quite a bit both in Russian cities and foreign countries. When traveling abroad, they visit countries such as the USA, Paraguay, Holland, Canada, Germany, Uruguay, Brazil, France, Spain, Colombia. Critics in Spain called the Hermitage Theater “The Absolute Theatre.” It was awarded the title “The Most Refined Theatre” in Switzerland.

The theater's repertoire is very wide and varied and is ready to offer its beloved public a wide variety of performances, both in script and in genre. The play, excellently performed more than once, "Harms! Charms! Shardam! or School of Clowns" never ceases to amaze the audience.

If you have questions about purchasing tickets to the Moscow Hermitage Theater, you can contact us by phone or fill out an order form on our website.