Bryantsev Theatre for Young Spectators (TYuZ)

On Pionerskaya Square stands the building of the Theatre for Young Spectators named after Alexander Bryantsev — one of the world's first professional repertory theatres created specifically for a children's audience. The company was founded by Bryantsev and gave its first production, The Little Humpbacked Horse, on 23 February 1922; the figure of the little horse served as the theatre's emblem for decades.

Until 1962 the company occupied a building on Mokhovaya Street that had previously housed the Tenishev Commercial School, and during the war years, from 1942 to 1944, it performed in evacuation in the Urals. As early as 1931 the architects Alexander Gegello and David Krichevsky had drawn up a bold glazed design for the theatre seating 1,500, but it was rejected after press criticism accused the theatre of "escaping from reality." A purpose-built theatre for the company was erected only three decades later: the foundation was laid in 1957, and construction was completed in May 1962 to a design by a team of architects led by Alexander Zhuk.

The building stands set back within the square on the site of the demolished barracks and parade ground of the Semyonovsky Regiment, closing the vista of Gorokhovaya Street and echoing, from a distance, the portico of the Admiralty. The facade is faced with ochre limestone and raised on a tall stylobate; the loggia is formed by massive pier-pylons, and a staircase flanked by two sculptural groups titled Youth, by Alexander Ignatyev and Larisa Kholina, leads to the entrance. The side ramps used for bringing in stage scenery end in wrought-iron gates decorated with images of fairy-tale characters. Inside, the stage is surrounded by a proscenium that projects noticeably into the hall — a rare solution bringing young spectators closer to the action — and the stalls seats were deliberately made without armrests, allowing small viewers to move about and group together as the performance unfolds. The foyer is decorated with majolica panels and murals on the theme of children's games by Andrei Mylnikov and Alexander Korolyov.

The theatre has had several different artistic directors over the years: from 1962 to 1986 the company was led by Zinovy Korogodsky, and the founder's name was given to the theatre in 1980. In the post-Soviet decades the chief directors included Anatoly Praudin, Grigory Kozlov and Arseny Sagalchik, and since 2023 the post has been held by Susanna Tsiryuk.

For its contribution to the arts, the TYuZ was awarded a silver medal at the 1925 World's Fair in Paris and the Order of Lenin in 1969. The building on Pionerskaya Square has been considered a possible cultural heritage site — its architectural solution has no direct parallels in Russian theatre architecture.

Today the Bryantsev Theatre for Young Spectators remains a symbol of Soviet theatre architecture and continues to operate as one of the country's oldest children's theatres, upholding the century-old tradition laid down by its founder.