The Maly Drama Theatre
The Maly Drama Theatre was created in 1944 in Leningrad, at a time when
most theatres had been evacuated from the city. Founded by decision of
the Oblast Executive Committee, the theatre had neither a clear artistic
program, nor its own building. The small company performed in towns and
villages of the Leningrad Oblast. From time to time interesting plays
were staged, but the theatre was still little-known in the city.
The Maly Drama Theatre carries out a lot of internationalprojects working within the Union of Theatres of Europe, which the theatre was invited to join in 1992. The General Assembly of the Union of European Theatres granted MDT the status of Theatre of Europe in 1998. Today there are only three such theatres in the world: the Odeon in Paris, the Piccolo in Milan, and the St. Petersburg Maly Drama Theatre. This is no accident. During the past decade the Maly Drama Theatre has become a leader in the developing theatrical arts. The theatre's performances have been seen in practically all corners of the world, in more than sixty cities of Europe, Australia, South and North America, Southeast Asia, and today foreign viewers judge the level of Russian theatre arts mostly by MDT performances.
In 1994 the theatre opened the renewed Russian Seasons in Paris. Over the course of three months the theatre gave Parisians three premieres and two shows from the repertoire. It was at that time that Lev Dodin was awarded the Order of Literature and the Arts asan officer "for considerable contribution to Russian-French cultural ties". In 2000 the Union of European Theatres on behalf of the Council of Europe conferred Lev Dodin with the Highest European Theatre Award.
The Maly Drama Theatre is a regular guest and participant in prestigious theatre festivals of the world. The theatre's coaches, led by Lev Dodin, hold workshops at major theatre schools in Europe and America. The theatre offers internship to young directors and actors from the USA, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Spain, Hungary and the Scandinavian countries.
Today there are 56 actors in the Company, most of whom are students of Lev Dodin of various years: Tatyana Shestakova - People`s Artist of Russia, winner of the USSR State Prize, Petr Semak - People’s Artist of Russia, winner of the USSR State Prize, Igor Ivanov - People’s Artist of Russia; Merited Artists of Russia and winners of the State Prize – Natalya Akimova, Sergey Vlasov, Tatyana Rasskazova; Merited Artists of Russia – Sergey Kuryshev Natalya Fomenko, Alexander Zavyalov, Sergey Kozyrev, Irina Tychinina, Igor Chernevich, Vladimir Seleznev, Kseniya Rappoport; actors of the younger generation already well-known in Russia and the world - Oleg Dmitriev, Elena Kalinina, Maria Nikiforova and many, many others.
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