Mossovet Theatre

"Mossovet" stands for "Moscow Soviet", or "Moscow City Council".

Mossovet Theater was created in 1923 by the theatre entrepreneur S.I.Prokofiev, first as the Theater of Moscow Provincial Council of Trade Unions (MGSPS). In 1925–1940 it was led by E.O. Lyubimov-Lanskoy and in 1938 changed its name to the Theatre of Moscow City Council (Teatr Moscovskovo soveta) later to be shortened to its present form.

The theatre progressed greatly during the reign of actor and director Yury Zavadsky (the protégé of Konstantin Stanislavski) which started in 1940 and lasted up to 1977. In those years the Mossovet became home to such Soviet stage stars as Vera Maretskaya, Nikolai Mordvinov, Faina Ranevskaya, Lyubov Orlova, Rostislav Plyatt, Boris Ivanov, Georgiy Zhzhonov, Gennady Bortnikov, Mikhail Kozakov, Yury Kuzmenkov. In 1964 the theatre for its artistic achievements was given the Academic Theatre status.

With the arrival of Pavel Khomsky in the mid-1970s the Mossovet Theatre started to experiment, using several scenes: In the Foyer, the Small Scene and the (120 seats-strong) Under the Roof scene – the latter opened in 1990 with the premier of Pyotr Fomenko's Kaligula. The theatre's Main scene (894 seats) features mostly classical adaptations, along with productions of contemporary directors (Pavel Khomsky, Yuri Eremin, Andrey Konchalovsky, Nina Tchusova and others). At the present, the Mossovet troupe includes Margarita Terekhova, Sergey Yursky, Olga Ostroumova, Valentin Gaft, Alexander Domogarov, Evgeniy Steblov, Alexander Filippenko, Alexander Lenkov, Olga Kabo, Gosha Kutsenko, Evgenya Kryukova, Valery Yaryomenko, Ekaterina Guseva and Margarita Shubina, among many others.