The theater company will come together, with actors like Vladimir Etush, Vasily Lanovoy, Yulia Borisova, Liudmila Maksakova, Maria Aronova, Sergei Makovetskiy, Alexei Guskov, Irina Kupchenko, Vladimir Simonov, Vladimir Vdovichenkov and many others. This group will be led by the theater’s artistic director Rimas Tuminas.

“For the first time in the 95 years of our history we changed the well-established rule and hold the traditional get-together of the company after the “summer intermission” not in the foyer of our historical house but in the building adjacent to it where the New Stage is now situated. We will show what the theater has gained thanks to implementation of the investment contract though it took the long 13 years to complete,” – stated Kirill Krok, director of the Vakhtangov theater, in his interview for TASS.

A former long term construction project

As it appeared, this contract was concluded back in 2003 during the term of the former artistic director of the Vakhtangov Theater, Mikhail Ulianov, with approval of the Ministry of Culture and the Federal Property Management Agency. The goal of the contract was to build a theater and business center with a New Stage for the Vakhtangov Theater on the land which was in operational administration of the theater. The years passed, with the first investor going bankrupt, and the other coming to replace him. Laws have changed and many problems seemed to become insoluble.

“We had many difficulties to overcome,” Krok admitted. “Yet, five years ago active steps began and the long-term construction turned into a building site. Today we have finally received a new stage covering the area of 6,250 sqm (together with administrative and utility premises). Thus the total area occupied by the theater has increased by 60% and is now 17,500 sqm.”

According to Mr.Krok, the New stage of the Vaktangov Theater was built by investors without attraction of budget funding, with the expenses around 1 billion rubles. However, investors didn’t end up losing: in exchange for the money they spent they received square meters in the center of Moscow, in Arbat, where they can arrange apartments and a trade & business area. ”I think, this is one of the examples of successful cooperation between business and theater over the last decade,” Krok remarked, adding that the Ministry of Culture had supported the theater and provided funding for the purchase of lighting and mechanical equipment.

“In the end, we received a state-of-the-art transforming stage. The audience hall is also modern; it admits 250 seats and its interiors combining various styles ranging from modern to hi-tech can effectively immerse spectators in the expressive theatrical environments. The audience seats are not firmly fixed and are like mobile bleachers that can be moved around the hall depending on the goal of the director” Krok told us.

“There will be enough work and money for everyone”

The Vakhtangov Theater is enjoying immense popularity these days. In the last season, its performances were visited by 300,000 people. ”The hall occupancy rate is 96.3%, and there are almost no vacant seats,” Krok confirmed. He informed us that according to the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Vakhtangov Theater is the most financially effective theater company in Russia. In 2014, every ruble the budget invested into the Vakhtangov Theater was turned into 2.5 rubles earned from its charter-established activities which suggests showing performances in Moscow and when on tour.

“In the last season, we gave 510 performances in Moscow and 74 performances on tour,” Krok informed us. The theater has been to seven cities of Russia, and visited ten countries. The theater company has been applauded in Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn, Athens, London, Tbilisi, Beijing, two U.S. cities – New York and Boston, in Toronto and Tel Aviv.

Before opening the new season, the Vakhtangov company made a big tour to Vladikavkaz – to the homeland of the theater’s founder Yevgeny Vakhtangov, where they showed nine best plays from their repertory.

“In the coming 95th season, the geography of the planned tours is no less impressive. The Vakhtangov company will cover almost all of Russia – from Kaliningrad to Yuzhno-Sakhalkinsk, while its foreign destinations include the Baltic countries, Georgia, Italy, the USA and Canada,” Krok enumerated.

In his words, the Vakhtangov Theater may boast having the highest salary in this field. “The average salary by results of 2014 made 95,350 rubles,” he specified. The company includes 121 people. In the season to come, 11 young actors will join the company, including Andrei Mironov’s grandson Andrei Udalov.

“There will be enough work and money for everyone,” Krok assured and joked that the theater “will not beg for funding.” “We keep a balanced approach to our expenses, so maybe that is why we don’t feel the bite of the economic crisis. Moreover, by results of our work for the nine months of 2015 we can even see a small increase from the commercial activities.”

“The parade of first nights”

“We are preparing a true parade of first nights to take place in the new stage,” Krok informed. “It will start on October 3 with a performance staged by Rimas Tuminas. It will be a play by the work of a well-known Austrian playwright Thomas Berhardt, “Minetti” where the main part of the great tragic actor Minetti will be played by Vladimir Simonov, an actor of the Vakhtangov theater. The staging also involves Liudmila Maksakova, Agnessa Peterson, Alexei Kuznetsov, Maria Volkova and the young generation of Vakhtangov Theater.”

Then, on October 7, the new stage will first see a plastic performance “Men and Women” composed and staged by chorographer Angelica Kholina based on the music of classic ballets. The performance involves actors from the theater studio as well as the star of “Ottepel” (Thaw) TV series Anna Chipovskaya, a graduate of Shchukin Drama School.

In mid-October, the first night of the performance “Take an umbrella, Madame Gautier!” will take place; director Vladimir Ivanov stages it specially for the People’s Artist of the Soviet Union Yulia Borisova who has celebrated her 90th jubilee this year.

In the new stage, Director Anton Yakovlev rehearses a play “Podrostok” (Teenager) based on a novel by Dostoevsky which the audience will see in November. The roles are performed by Alexei Guskov, Lydia Velezheva, Vladimir Logvinov, Olga Lerman, Maria Volkova and others. In December, the new stage will meet a children’s play “Peter Pen.” “In general, the New Stage is expected to have five opening nights,” Kirill Krok concludes.

As to the main stage, the first night of this season belongs to the play “The Cemetery Club” based on a play by Ivan Menchell. A touching and funny story about three elderly widow friends who decided to remain loyal to their deceased husbands is staged by Algirdas Latenas. The roles are played by Yulia Rutberg, Marina Yesipenko, Olga Chipovskaya, Elena Sotnikova and Yuri Kraskov. The performance is to be shown at the end of November.

The next first night in the main stage should be a play staged by the well-known Romanian director Silviu Purcarete. By preliminary information, he intends to use a comedy by the classical author of Italian drama Luigi Pirandello.

Rimas Tuminas, the art director of the theater, is thinking about working on a new project. The director confessed to TASS that he has an inclination to try one of Gorky’s plays. He will probably let the company know the name of it at the meeting.

However, when answering the question of how Vakhtangov Theater will celebrate its coming 95th birthday the art director gave a clear-cut answer. “I think we will omit this “interim” date and will begin preparations for the 100th jubilee” Tuminas said.

The Vakhtangov Theater is opening its new 95th season tonight by showing its legendary play “Pristan” (Quay). Staged by Rimas Tuminas for the 90th anniversary of the theater, it was created for the masters of the company: Yulia Borisova, Vladimir Etush, Vasily Lanovoy, Liudmila Maksakova, Viacheslav Shalevich, Irina Kupchenko, Evgeniy Kniazev and many others, who will again take their home-like stage to start a new season once more.