Mikhail Lermontov National Russian Drama Theatre

The Russian Drama Theatre was opened in Almaty in 1933. Creation and formation of the theatre was done by Yury Rutkovsky, Zinaida Morskaya (Maksimova), Yevgeny Dyordiyev, Vladimir Zeldin who brought fame to the theatre.

The theatre was named after Mikhail Lermontov in 1964 – the year of the 150th anniversary of poet's birth. At the end of the 1970s, the theatre was acknowledged to be an academic theatre.

The theatre celebrated its 50th anniversary and its staff was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples in 1983.

Theatre staff were awarded the Certificate of Merit of the Culture Committee for their productive work in the development of theatrical art in 2000.

In 2006 the theatre was closed for major repairs. The theatre installed expensive stage lighting and sound equipment, modern air conditioning and heating systems. The restoration lasted almost three years and the theatre reopened its doors in December 2008.

According to the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev the theatre was assigned the status ″National″ on 20 November 2020.