The material is dedicated to the opening of the Far Eastern branch of The Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in September 2024 – the first branch of The Vakhtangov school in this country. At the opening ceremony of the branch the Principal of the Institute Evgeny Knyazev handed the bust of Evgeny Vakhtangov to the Head of the region Valery Limarenko. The author narrates about the work plans of the branch according to the program developed in the Institute, about the master course, which is taken by the teachers who are supposed to work in the Far Eastern branch, about the work of the admissions committee, recruitment for budget places and special programs aiming to train actors for theatres in Siberia and the Far East.

The article traces the history of the relationship between the Central Academy of Drama (Beijing) and The Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute, which signed – together with The Vakhtangov Theatre – the trilateral memorandum of cooperation during the days of the IX St. Petersburg International cultural Forum. The author points to the historical kinship between the two schools, which has to do with the name of Boris Grigorievich Kulnev, a teacher of the Vakhtangov school, who also used to be the Director of it in 1949–1953. The article tells about him being the head of the School and his subsequent work at the Academy of Drama in China as the artistic director of the Acting Department (from 1954). The article describes the joint educational project of the two institutions «ChineseRussian Program of cultural exchange in the field of dramatic art and the teacher training for dramatic artists in the New Era «Acting workshop on the Vakhtangov school»» 2024 and 2025 have been declared the Years of culture of Russia and China.

The essay is dedicated to the work of the outstanding actress of The Evgeny Vakhtangov Theatre, People’s Artist of the USSR Yulia Konstantinovna Borisova, who would have turned 100 in March 2025. Informing readers about biographical milestones in the life and work of the actress, the author seeks to determine the nature of her acting talent, which allowed her to perform roles of the widest range: Anisya («At the Golden Bottom» by Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak, 1955), Nastasia Filippovna («Idiot» by Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1958), Valya Seregina («Irkutsk Story» by Alexei Arbuzov, 1959), Turandot («Princess Turandot» by Carlo Gozzi, 1963), Epiphany («The Millionaire» by Bernard Shaw, 1964), Gelena («Warsaw Melody» by Leonid Zorin, 1967), Kruchinina («Guilty without Guilt» by Alexander Ostrovsky, 1993), Patrick Campbell («Sweet Liar» by Jerome Kilty, 1994) and others. It is especially emphasized that the art of Yulia Borisova, a graduate of the Boris Shchukin Theatre College, has become the embodiment of the Vakhtangov trend in the art of theatre.

The essay is dedicated to Vladimir Georgievich Schlesinger, an outstanding theatre teacher, an actor of the Evgeny Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre and the head of the Acting Department at The Boris Shchukin Theatre College. The author introduces the reader to his biography, reveals the specificity of his creative work, and - above all - the gift of improvisation; analyzes the roles played in theatre and cinema, and his works as a director on the stage of The Evgeny Vakhtangov Theatre. Special attention is paid to the pedagogical methodology of V.G. Schlesinger, who inherited the traditions of E.B. Vakhtangov. The essay tells about the publication of Marina Raikina’s book «A Miracle named Schlesinger». A chapter from the book is presented on the pages of this journal in the section «Literary Department» (see: pp. 173–182).

To the 100th anniversary of Leonid Zorin's birth. 

He composed poems, opera librettos, novels, writing them down the old-fashioned way – with an “eternal pen” on paper. He lived 95 years. He left 49 plays, nine of which he considered truly successful. He is considered one of those who defined the face of Russian theater in the second half of the 20th century.   And despite the fact that the fate of the works dearest to his heart was difficult, and sometimes even sad, he retained a good feeling for the theater, considered his life a success and thanked the higher powers that he was doing what he loved.

Leonid Zorin entered the drama industry in the late 1940s, when the good fought with the best on stage. The first play by a correspondence student at the literary institute was immediately accepted for production by the Maly Theatre. After the premiere, the newly-minted playwright promised himself that "youth" would remain his "only well-intentioned song." He kept his promise.

The article describes The Spivak Workshop Festival, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the acting and directing workshop of People’s Artist of Russia Semyon Spivak at the Russian State Institute of Performing Arts. During three decades, Professor Spivak has graduated was the head of five courses, for which the St. Petersburg Youth Theater on Fontanka has become the training base. The program of The Spivak Workshop festival includes performances that grew out of student thesis shows and became an important part of the repertoire of the theatre headed by Spivak. In the author’s conversation with Semyon Spivak, the top issues of modern theatre education are raised: teaching methods, pedagogical interaction of a master with students, and the upbringing of an actor as a like–minded person with a director.

A conversation with People’s Artist of Russia Julia Rutberg, a graduate of The Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute and an actress of The Evgeny Vakhtangov Theatre, is dedicated to the premiere of the play «Offering to Gumilev.» The actress talks about how the idea of a cycle that inherits the high traditions of the poetic theatre was born: about her collaboration with the Nikolai Osipov National Academic Orchestra of Folk Instruments of Russia under the direction of Vladimir Andropov. The play «A Comet named Nikolai Gumilev» is not their first experience of co–creation. «Offering to Gippius. Zinaida Gippius – as a genius of her time», «Offering to Rachmaninov», «The Demon. Offering to Lermontov» are shown over the course of four years. Julia Rutberg takes the interlocutor to her creative laboratory, reflecting on the proximity of the poetic theatre and the Vakhtangov trend in art.

The article reviews musical performances of The Student theatre of The Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute (4th year of student actors, artistic directors – Pavel Lyubimtsev, Vladimir Tartakovsky) – the operetta by Imre Kalman «Maritsa» (musical director – Konstantin Khvatynets, director – Zhanna Gerder, pianist – Maria Konyakhina) and the musical by John Kander, Joe Masteroff, Fred Ebb «Cabaret» (independent director’s work of the student Alexander Svintsov; choreographer – Alexandra Manturovskaya, sound – Valentin Zubritsky). The issues that are raised: interpretation of classical material by students of theatre schools who master singing through special training programs. The author evaluates both performances through the development of traditions of putting up shows, including the traditions of performing, and the prism of modern theatrical education. The author reflects on operetta and musical against a broad artistic and historical background.

The author talks with Valentina Nikolaenko, professor of the Acting Department at The Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute, about the specifics of the Vakhtangov school and the pedagogical experience she gained at her alma mater, where she studied at two departments – acting and directing, and then became a teacher and head of five courses. Valentina Nikolaenko shares her thoughts on the nature of acting, theatre education, and pedagogical techniques. The story is based on her memories about the outstanding masters of the Shchukin theatre school – Y.V. Katin-Yartsev, D.A Andreeva, B.E. Zakhava, M.S. Belenky, V.A. Galperin, B.I. Brodsky, V.P. Poglazov, A.V. Briskindova, G.A. Zagyanskaya and others. A cross-cutting theme is the thought of the complexity of the of an actor, which requires a full and conscious immersion in the profession.

The topic of the scientific article – the history of projection theatre in the art of acting in Russia – is considered by the author against the background of the general view of the art of the 20-30s of the XX century. The author traces the merging of elements in the language systems of the arts, which allowed the avantgardists to find new ways of interacting with the audience. The researcher talks about the Moscow painter Solomon Nikritin, the creator of the theory of «projectionism» and abstract theatre. The ideal representative of the artist, according to Nikritin, is an actor, and the theatre is a potential implementer of the ideas of projectionism. To embody them, Nikritin, along with a group of artists and actors, creates his own theatre in Moscow and gives it the name «Projection». It is shown that the projection theatre was innovative, avant-garde in many ways, was a research and was almost the first theatre workshop in the country.

The article examines the difficult relationship between Akim Volynsky, the leading ballet critic of the first quarter of the 20th century, and Fyodor Lopukhov, the leading ballet master of The State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet. They lived and worked at the same time. Their views on classical dance and its leading role in the development of the Russian ballet theatre are compared. The assessment of these views is based on a professional approach to choreography and music. The author introduces previously unpublished archival materials into scientific circulation.

Mikhail Marfin is the host of the quiz show of the First TV channel «Happy Chance», the captain of the team of the Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology which participated in the show “Club of the funny and the quick-witted”, the editor and author of books on the history of the Club of the funny and the quick-witted, libretto of musicals, TV series and shows, songs, the creator of numerous TV programs. He appears as a playwright on the pages of the Vakhtangov Almanac. His play «Home Care» the genre of which is defined as a comedy, includes only three roles and is a modern story in the «old» way, where «male» and «female» converge in the eternal «dispute,» and who or what wins in this dispute is up to the theatre and the audience to decide.

Excerpt from the book