Gorky Moscow Art Theatre

On Tverskoy Boulevard, occupying almost an entire block, stands the massive building of the Gorky Moscow Art Theatre — a drama theatre that emerged in 1987 from the split of what had once been a single Moscow Art Theatre. The theatre bears the name of the writer Maxim Gorky, granted to the company back in 1932, and carries on the tradition of psychological Russian theatre established by the founders of the Moscow Art Theatre at the turn of the 20th century.

The conflict that led to the company’s division had begun brewing as early as 1970, when Oleg Yefremov became artistic director of the unified Moscow Art Theatre of the USSR, his creative views diverging from those of part of the company. Almost two decades later, the standoff ended with an official order from the USSR Minister of Culture: the theatre was split into two independent companies. The troupe that remained under the leadership of actress Tatyana Doronina kept the name of Gorky, while Yefremov’s part of the company took the name of Anton Chekhov in 1989 and moved to Kamergersky Lane.

The building at 22 Tverskoy Boulevard was constructed back in 1972 on the initiative of Minister of Culture Yekaterina Furtseva, when it served the unified Moscow Art Theatre of the USSR. The design was developed by architect Vladimir Kubasov and colleagues; the main façade is faced with brownish-red tuff and divided into horizontal bands imitating the folds of a stone theatre curtain, while projecting metal brackets support lanterns and bas-reliefs depicting the four muses — the overall silhouette recalls Scandinavian modernism. Inside, the 1,345-seat auditorium is finished in wood, stone, and bronze, and stalactite-shaped chandeliers light the staircases between the foyers.

After the 1987 split, the new Gorky Moscow Art Theatre opened with a production of “The Lower Depths,” a play that gave the theatre a symbolic link to Gorky’s name. Over the following decades more than seventy productions have been staged here, including “Zoyka’s Apartment,” “The White Guard,” “The Cherry Orchard,” and “Vassa Zheleznova”; some productions, such as “The Blue Bird” and “Three Sisters,” have run for years. During the Soviet era the theatre was regarded as a conservative, officially sanctioned institution that maintained a classical repertory approach in contrast to the experiments of the neighbouring Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre.

The theatre’s leadership has changed repeatedly in recent times: in December 2018 producer Eduard Boyakov became artistic director, while Doronina took up a specially created post of theatre president; in subsequent years several directors came and went, until in October 2021 Vladimir Kekhman took over as general director.

Today the actor Sergei Bezrukov serves as the company’s artistic director, and the theatre remains one of Moscow’s largest dramatic stages — with a rich classical repertoire and a distinctive building that has long been one of the architectural landmarks of Tverskoy Boulevard.