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The history of the Saint Petersburg Comedy Theatre is associated with the name of one of the most brilliant directors of the 20th century – Nikolai P. Akimov. During the 1930s, in the very center of the Nevsky Prospect he created a theatre different from the others. He wiped away the dull colours of socialist-realist everyday life in his vivid theatrical performances, which were always longing for “the ordinary miracle”, the holiday, the different life. He turned the uncomfortable, narrow stage of the Comedy Theatre into a flexible art space, full of wonderful opportunities, a space that could miraculously grow, shine, and would fabulously alter in his “director’s hands”. In Akimov’s time the stage of the theatre seemed large and comfortable both for royal castles and medieval Italian side streets, and old English parks…
The history of the Comedy Theatre is the history of the director’s romance with Shakespeare, Lope de Vega, Sheridan, Eduardo de Filippo, Prestley, Eugeny Shwartz. In the lobby there is still a well-known black-and-white photo portrait of Akimov holding the lens. His eye is sly, his smile is an example of steel irony, and the lens looks like an instrument of the magician, of Shakespeare’s Prospero, trying to recreate the visible world around…
At the dumbest, dullest, most nonfestive of times his artists went on stage and they radiated some special shining of the holiday, beauty, and particular chic.
The Comedy Theatre went through the great theatrical epoch connected with the name of its founder. Later all the directors trying to approach to the Comedy Theatre were frightened of the Akimov legend. His legend was firmly rooted in this theatre, though it didn’t prevent other directors creating their shows here.
At different times Grigory Kozintsev, Alexander Muzil, Georgy Tovstonogov, Alexander Belinsky put their productions on this stage…
During the seventies Vadim Golikov and Petr Fomenko were in charge of the theatre. This stage offered shelter for young and “homeless” directors. Kama Ginkas, Lev Dodin, Mikhail Levitin put their shows on here until they had their own theatres.
In the middle of the nineties Tatiana Kazakova headed the theatre. She invited the best designers to help her – Emil Kapelyush, Alexander Orlov, who created stages of the utmost beauty and genuine theatrical poetry…
As Akimov once did, she “deceived” the physical space of the stage; she made it magical, breathing, sparkling…
Pink paradise apples, falling down from the skies, are rolling over the stage (“The Enamoured” by C. Goldoni), the fabulously beautiful old English park shows its enigmatic and emerald green (“The Country Wife” W. Wicherley), it is sleeting in St. Petersburg (“The Apple Thief” K. Dragunskaya), the bell rings at the door of an old Russian front room (“Krechinsky’s Marriage” A. Sukhovo-Kobylin), a sinister royal carnival radiates resplendent beams of colours (“The Shadow” E. Shwartz).
Tatiana Kazakova defines the ethic and aesthetic essence of the genre in which the theatre works as follows: “The audience rhymes anticipation of the comedy with anticipation of the festive occasion. Leaving everyday life for some different dimension is what the viewer wants. On raising the curtain, to see glare, to hear music, to see handsome men, beautiful women, magic, fancy – everything he/she lacks in life… I believe the comedy can give an enormous gain in breath”.
Kazakova has been putting on her shows of anxious, infernal beauty for more than ten years.
She together with her company are able to “tune up” and perform any play, classical or modern.
The efforts of the entire production team create a theatrical spectacle, a “crystal ball” that brings the audiences to different dimensions – a sign and guarantee of a genuine art.
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