Maly Theater

The Maly gained a name during the nineteenth- century as a venue for social and political satires and was known as Moscow's second university for the hugely influential role it played in Russia's enlightenment.

The Maly produced premiers of many of Alexander Griboyedov's, Nikolai Gogol's, and Alexander Ostrovsky's works. The theater was built in 1818 by the architects Elkinsky and Bove for the merchant Vargin, who had been highly impressed by the Palais- Royale theater in Paris and sought to recreate something similar in the Russian capital.

The first performance by the Imperial Theatre Group took place here on 14th October 1824, just three months before the Bolshoi Imperial Theatre was opened. The Maly Theatre concentrated on pure drama. The name "Maly" comes from the Russian word for 'small' and the theater was named this as its auditorium was considerably smaller than that of the Bolshoi.

In 1853 the theater's production of Ostrovsky's play Don't Sit in Your Neighbour's Sledge was a masterpiece throughout Moscow. The production was a resounding success and the theatre came to be known as the House of Ostrovskv. A statue of the author, designed by the sculptors N. Andreyev and his brother V. Andreyev, was erected outside the theater in 1929.

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Contact Information

Maly Theater
Teatralnaya Ploshad 1/6
125 009 Moscow

Tel. +7952920050

http://www.moscow-taxi.com/entertainment/theaters-and-concert-venues/maly-theater.html