The Vakhtangov Theatre will open its branch in the Russian capital in 2016. The nearby Moscow Drama Theater named after Ruben Simonov will appear on the city theatre map under this name, said director of the Vakhtangov Theatre Kirill Krok.

He informed that on Tuesday, December 22, ” the Ruben Simonov Theatre legally ceased to exist”. Now, according to Krok, “the theatre starts a new life as a part of the Vakhtangov Theater”.

“The best acting resources of the Buben Simonov Theatre will be admitted to the Vakhtangov theatre acting company” – said Krok, noting that “there is still a long way left of transforming of this sick organism called “theater” into the space, where public will come gladly”.

“The preparation of technical documentation for the upcoming renovation and creation of theatrical space, convenient for the audience and the actors will be in full action, starting already from January. I am convinced that next year we will open the branch of the Vakhtangov Theatre named after Ruben Simonov” – said the director of the Vakhtangov Theater.

Kirill Krok reminds that three years ago the Department of Culture of Moscow has already started proposing that the Ruben Simonov Theater be transmitted to a federal level and attached to the Vakhtangov Theater in the status of its branch. The Vakhtangov Theater has accepted the Department suggestion.

The Russian government has issued a decree approving the transmission to federal ownership of the Moscow Drama Theater named after Ruben Simonov with its further renaming into a branch of the Vakhtangov Theater.

The Vakhtangov theater is one of the most successful Russian theaters nowadays. It already has three stages. As well as the Main stage, the theatre’s performances run on the stage of the First Studio of the Vakhtangov Theatre, and the New Stage, inaugurated in October 2015. The former Theatre of Ruben Simonov is going to become its fourth acting space. The inauguration of the branch of the Vakhtangov Theatre is scheduled for the end of the year 2016.