Drama Theater is the Nizhny Novgorod colloquial name for the Gorky Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Drama Theater, awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the oldest theater in the city and one of the oldest in Russia [1][2]. The company counts its seasons from the public theater of Prince Nikolay Shakhovskoy, opened in 1798, and since 1896 it has occupied its own building on Theatre Square, at the beginning of Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street: it was designed by the chief architect of the imperial theaters Viktor Schröter and built by Pavel Malinovsky [1][3][4]. The building is a federal-level cultural heritage site, the "City Theater Building," with a three-tier auditorium seating 705 [2][3][5]. In September 2026 the theater opened its 229th season [7][8].
Drama Theater — which theater is that
There are more than ten theaters in the city and the region, and their everyday names are easy to confuse. In Nizhny Novgorod speech, the "Dramteatr" always means the Gorky Drama Theater at 13 Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street [2]; the Opera House is the Pushkin Opera and Ballet Theater. Living independently alongside them are the Youth Theater, the puppet theater, the Vera Theater, the Komediya Theater, and the Stepanov Chamber Music Theater; in the region there are the drama theaters of Sarov, Dzerzhinsk, and Arzamas [9].
The present-day Dramteatr should not be confused with the historic Nizhny Novgorod stages that disappeared long ago: the Large Yarmarka Theater, where Fyodor Chaliapin sang in 1901, and the People's House Theater, opened in 1903 with the participation of Maxim Gorky [4].
Prince Shakhovskoy's Theater
Prince Nikolay Grigoryevich Shakhovskoy moved from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod and brought with him a troupe of serf actors from the family estate of Yusupovo. One of the prince's town houses, at the corner of Bolshaya and Malaya Pechyorskaya streets, was converted into a theater — the site is now occupied by the Kulibin River School [1][3][4].
The theater's birthday is conventionally taken to be February 7, 1798, when the serf actors performed Denis Fonvizin's comedy "The Choice of a Tutor"; the theater counts its seasons from that day [1][3]. A virtual exhibition by the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Library dates the opening of the first public theater to the autumn of 1798, and the first public performance to February 7, 1799 [4].
The repertoire was on a par with the capitals': besides comedies, tragedies, and vaudevilles, they staged operas and ballets — the same ones that were playing in Moscow and Petersburg [1][4]. The spectacle was homespun and crude in a provincial way: contemporaries remembered the theater as a large shed of roughly hewn, whitewashed logs with an oblong hall on two tiers — boxes and a gallery for 120 people [3].
In 1811 the prince built a new, richly appointed building on the same site: 27 boxes on two tiers, above them the paradise — a gallery for 200 spectators — and a parterre for 100 [3]. A historical report prepared for the expert assessment of the theater building dates this auditorium — 27 boxes and 50 armchairs, a parterre for 100 people, and an upper gallery for 200 seats — back to the 1798 reconstruction of the house [5].
if noblemen, merchants, and townsfolk will contemplate virtuous plays and operas, rather than lurk in their homes and dream of the forbidden
Impresarios, fires, and homeless years
The prince died in 1824, leaving the theater debts that were enormous for the time — 50 thousand rubles. His heirs were indifferent to the stage and sold the enterprise to professional impresarios [3][5]. In 1827 two Nizhny Novgorod theater lovers — an official named Rasputin and a merchant named Klimov — bought the theater for 100 thousand rubles, together with the sets and the company [5]. There followed the years that the theater's history calls golden: until 1838, Kazan, Simbirsk, and Saratov considered it an honor to invite Nizhny Novgorod actors to their stages [5].
Then impresarios began to change frequently, actors left, the quality of productions declined, and losses grew — and yet the Nizhny Novgorod stage remained among the best in the Volga Region and in Russia [3][5]. The theater was unluckiest of all with its buildings: in 1853 the house on the Pechyorskiye streets burned down, and the troupe was left without a permanent venue [3][4][5].
The theater found a new home in 1855 in a house on Blagoveschenskaya Square — the very one that later became the Palace of Labor at the beginning of Bolshaya Pokrovskaya. The house belonged to the Kordyukov industrialists; in 1851 it was bought by the merchant Pyotr Bugrov and in 1852–1854 rebuilt as a three-story stone building; Bugrov was asked to lease it out for a theater by the governor, Prince Mikhail Urusov [4][5]. Business went poorly, the rent was paid late, and the merchant's son Alexander decided to close the theater; in 1862 the building was bought by the provincial marshal of the nobility, Alexey Turchaninov, and after his death in 1863 the house was again leased out as a theater [5].
As early as 1846 there were plans to build a new theater on the Verkhne-Volzhskaya Embankment, but the site for it on Bolshaya Pokrovskaya, on what is now Theatre Square, was allotted by Emperor Nicholas I — according to tradition, during his visit to the city in the 1830s. The city did not have the funds then to buy the land and pay for construction [3][5].
In the early 1870s the permanent troupe of the city theater broke up and opera performances ceased altogether — they were replaced by tours of opera and ballet troupes at the Yarmarka [4]. Even so, actors of the first rank performed on the Nizhny Novgorod stage: Polina Strepetova, the future prima of St. Petersburg's Alexandrinsky Theater, and Lyubov Nikulina-Kositskaya, who became an actress of Moscow theaters, and the tragedians Nikolay Miloslavsky and Nikolay Rybakov [4][5]; in various years Alexander Lensky, Vera Komissarzhevskaya, Mikhail Shchepkin, and Konstantin Stanislavsky also performed here [5].
- 1798–1824 — Prince N. G. Shakhovskoy [1]
- 1824–1827 — the prince's heirs [1]
- 1827–1839 — impresario I. A. Rasputin [1]
- 1847–1877 — impresario F. K. Smolkov [1]
- 1877–1881 — various impresarios [1]
- 1881–1891 — D. A. Belsky [1]
The Building on Theatre Square
The occasion for construction was the All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition of 1896, for which the city had been improving its infrastructure for several years. In March 1894 the City Duma deliberated at length over the fate of the theater, which then occupied the Bugrov house: some of the council members were in favor of repairing the old building, because the new one had been estimated at 300,000 rubles, a sum the city could not afford [3].
The matter was settled by the Old Believer merchant Nikolay Bugrov, grandson of Petr Bugrov: he volunteered to cover most of the costs — 200,000 rubles — so long as the entertainment establishment would no longer occupy the house his grandfather had built [3][5]. On July 17, 1894, the first stone was laid in the foundation [1][4].
The design was drawn up by Academician Viktor Aleksandrovich Shreter, chief architect of the Imperial Theaters, and the work on site was directed by a young Nizhny Novgorod architect, Pavel Petrovich Malinovsky [1][3][4]. The Beaux-Arts building, with a three-tier auditorium seating 705, was built in less than two years [3].
The grand opening took place on May 14, 1896, during the exhibition and on the day of the coronation of Nicholas II; according to the regional library, it was May 15 [3][4][6]. The gala performance, Mikhail Glinka's opera A Life for the Tsar, was given by Savva Mamontov's private Russian opera company, with the part of Ivan Susanin sung by the 23-year-old and still little-known Feodor Chaliapin [3][4][6]. In honor of the coronation, the theater was called the Nicholas Theater until the revolution [3][5]. The Emperor and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna visited it in July of that year, when they came to the exhibition [3].
The drama season in the new building opened on September 1, 1896, with Alexander Sumbatov-Yuzhin's drama The Leaves Rustle; the company was led by Nikolay Sobolshchikov-Samarin [1]. A plaque still hangs on the main facade today, inscribed: "The building was constructed to a design by the architect V. A. Schröter. The theater was opened on May 14, 1896, with an opera performance featuring F. I. Chaliapin" [5].
on the most solemn day of the Holy Coronation of Their Imperial Highnesses, Sovereign Emperor Nicholas Alexandrovich and Sovereign Empress Alexandra Feodorovna
Sobolshchikov-Samarin
The finest pages of Nizhny Novgorod's theatrical chronicle are tied to the actor, director, and impresario Nikolay Ivanovich Sobolshchikov-Samarin, who worked here from 1892: it is his name that "hallows" the present building on Bolshaya Pokrovskaya [1][4]. He created a joint-stock Association of Actors and was the first to propose that actors take part in the running of the theater; he sought like-minded people in other cities and infected them with his dream of the provincial theater as a cultural center [3].
In 1899 Sobolshchikov-Samarin left Nizhny Novgorod for a quarter of a century — in his memoirs he explained this by saying that he "was drawn to new places, to new people." In 1924 the master returned to the city and to the theater and worked there in various positions almost until his death in 1945; from 1936 as artistic consultant [1][3].
Under him the theater's creative principles took shape and a company assembled in which A. N. Samarina, N. A. Levkoev, T. P. Rozhdestvenskaya, V. I. Razumov, M. K. Vysotsky, V. P. Golodkova, P. D. Muromtsev, P. B. Yudin, E. N. Agurov, M. M. Belousov, and others performed. Of all classical drama, the playwrights closest to Sobolshchikov were Ostrovsky and Gorky [1].
I was delighted with the new building. Everything in it pleased me. It seemed to me that in this beautiful building, flooded with electric light, I would forget the thorny path of the provincial actor, and that here all my rosy dreams of a real artistic theater would come true. Every time I entered the new theater, I was seized by a kind of trembling, and I caught myself walking through its corridors on tiptoe, reverently
After Prince Shakhovskoy, he was the first person who loved not himself in the theater, but the theater in himself
Gorky Theater
Since 1901, all the plays of Maxim Gorky have been staged on this stage: in the regulations of its own festival, the company calls itself the only theater in the world where the whole of Gorky's dramatic work has been performed [4][10]. After 1917, the way out of repertory and financial difficulties was found there as well: "Vassa Zheleznova" and "The Philistines" drew full houses, alongside Mayakovsky, Chekhov's "The Seagull" and "The Cherry Orchard," and the tragedies of Shakespeare [5].
All four wartime seasons the theater worked without days off or vacations, giving two performances a day and donating the proceeds to the Defense Fund [3]. In 1942 Nikolay Pokrovsky took over as artistic director and staged one of his finest productions, The Barbarians; in 1943 the director Vsevolod Lermin presented a new version of Enemies [1][5]. Pokrovsky also established the tradition of staging a play by Gorky every year [5].
In 1943 the theater was named after Maxim Gorky; in 1949, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor; and in 1968 it received the title of "academic" theater [1][5]. In that same year, 1968, the leading actress Antonina Samarina became a People's Artist of the USSR [1].
The production of The Lower Depths and the group of its creators — the director B. D. Voronov, the designer V. Ya. Gerasimenko, and the People's Artist of Russia N. A. Levkoev, who played Luka — were awarded the K. S. Stanislavsky State Prize of the RSFSR [1]. In 1993, at the M. Gorky Russian Theater Festival, the grand prize for best direction went to the production of The Zykovs, staged by G. G. Mikhailov [1].
From 1956 to 1962 the theater was headed by Meer Gersht, a student of Alexander Tairov; during his tenure the company gained actors whose names the whole country later came to know: L. S. Drozdova, V. V. Vikhrov, N. G. Voloshin, V. Ya. Dvorzhetsky, V. Ya. Samoylov, and V. I. Kuznetsov [1]. Their portraits hang in the theater's memorial gallery [15], and the Nizhny Novgorod House of Actors bears the name of the People's Artist of the RSFSR V. V. Vikhrov [9][15].
| Years | Chief Director |
|---|---|
| 1893–1899 | N. I. Sobolshchikov-Samarin [1] |
| 1899–1900 | S. A. Korsikov-Andreyev [1] |
| 1900–1902 | K. N. Nezlobin [1] |
| 1902–1908 | D. I. Basmanov [1] |
| 1908–1910 | M. E. Yevgenyev [1] |
| 1911–1912 | P. P. Struysky [1] |
| 1912–1913 | I. V. Lozanovsky [1] |
| 1913–1916 | A. A. Sumarokov [1] |
| 1916–1918 | I. A. Rostovtsev [1] |
| 1918–1922 | board of directors [1] |
| 1922–1924 | S. Ya. Stupetsky [1] |
| 1924–1936 | N. I. Sobolshchikov-Samarin (artistic consultant from 1936 to 1945) [1] |
| 1936–1940 | Ye. A. Brill [1] |
| 1940–1942 | V. Z. Mass [1] |
| 1942–1956 | N. A. Pokrovsky [1] |
| 1956–1962 | M. A. Gersht [1] |
| 1962–1971 | B. D. Voronov [1] |
| 1971–1975 | K. M. Dubinin [1] |
| 1975–1979 | G. V. Menshenin [1] |
| 1979–1985 | A. A. Koshelev [1] |
| 1985–1988 | O. I. Dzhangisherashvili [1] |
| 1988–1991 | Ye. D. Tabachnikov [1] |
What is protected in the building
In the state register, the building is listed as a cultural heritage site of federal significance, the "City Theater Building," 1895–1896, a monument of urban planning and architecture at 13 Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street. It was designated a federal monument by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 176 of February 20, 1995; its registration number in the unified state register is 521410083080006 (Order of the Russian Ministry of Culture No. 11425-r of October 21, 2015) [5].
The boundaries of the monument's territory were approved by Resolution of the Nizhny Novgorod Region government No. 22 of January 17, 2013, the protection zones by Resolution No. 332 of June 5, 2024, and the subject of protection by Order No. 129 of May 6, 2024, of the Region's Department for State Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites. The building itself stands within the boundaries of the historic territory "Old Nizhny Novgorod," established by Decision No. 370-m of the Regional Council of People's Deputies of November 30, 1993 [5].
The subject of protection begins with urban planning: the theater occupies an island position on Theatre Square, is set back from the red line of Bolshaya Pokrovskaya, forming a cour d'honneur (forecourt) in front of the main entrance, and closes the vista of Piskunova Street [5].
Among the protected decor are, among other things, sculpted bas-reliefs with the coat of arms of Nizhny Novgorod and decorative cartouches with bas-relief griffins on the main facade, cartouches with the dates of the theater's construction, stucco work in the form of lyres and garlands above the second-floor windows, balustrades, vases and parapet posts, the cast-iron wall lanterns of the main entrance, and the lanterns on cast posts in the arched openings of the balcony [5].
Among the interiors, the protected elements are the marble floors of the vestibule, the parquet of the foyer and the grand hall, stucco ceiling medallions, the wrought-iron and cast-iron stair railings, and, in the auditorium, the side porticoes with columns of the Composite order, the polychrome painting of the two-level ceiling, the central 56-branch chandelier, and even the historic mechanism for raising and lowering it [5].
Reconstructions: what the theater lost and what it gained
The building had no storage for sets and props from the very beginning, so annexes were added one after another: the first, for storage, appeared even before the Revolution [5].
In 1925, a scenery workshop was built above the storage annex, another annex was added on the right side, and a smoking room was created under the vestibule by underpinning the foundations and excavating the soil. At that time the wooden rafters above the auditorium, which had sagged considerably, were replaced with metal ones, and the ceiling designed by Schroeter had to be cut down despite its abundance of stucco details and its artistic oil painting with allegorical figures of the muses. In its place a temporary ceiling was made, covered with plywood and with papier-mâché details [5].
A design for a new ceiling, repeating Schroeter's in simplified form and without the painting, was produced in 1948 by the architect A. A. Yakovlev. This ceiling lasted until 1959, when it was replaced with a new one during a major renovation; at the same time some of the wooden load-bearing structures were replaced with metal ones, and the wooden benches in the amphitheater were replaced with upholstered seats. The layout of the spectator area barely changed, but the round staircases connected with the vestibule interior were lost [5].
The theater underwent its most noticeable reconstruction in 1982: following a design by the architect V. N. Rymarenko, a volume as tall as the top of the stage house, containing auxiliary and stage-service rooms, was added to the northwest facade. The annex's decor echoed the style of the side facades, and the building grew by seven window bays, becoming nineteen bays wide; at the same time the coat check, buffet, and restrooms were expanded. The annex left the architecture of the main facade practically untouched [5].
In the 1990s, repair and restoration work was carried out, leaving the hall and foyer with multi-branch chandeliers, inlaid parquet of various woods, and paneled doors — today these themselves form part of the subject of protection [5].
Renovation of the 2020s
Documentation for the preservation of the monument was approved as early as 2014 (the developer was Asgard LLC); the project was then carried out by ZAO SMU-77 on commission from the theater itself: the positive conclusion of the historical and cultural expert review is dated April 4, 2023, and the department's approval came by a letter dated April 28, 2023 [5].
In 2026, the Regional Department for the State Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites twice put the expert reports on the design documentation for the major renovation up for public discussion — from January 22 to 30 and from March 10 to 18. The project provides for restoration of the facades and roof, cutoff waterproofing of the exterior walls by injection, restoration of the plaster in the basement, restoration of the thermal insulation of the attic floor, and installation of exterior video surveillance; the review concluded that the solutions do not violate the protected features of the building [5][16].
The experts described the overall condition of the building as satisfactory, but the plinth as unsatisfactory: the plaster has been lost down to the brick in places, and there are traces of biological damage and moisture saturation. On the facades, cracks, losses of stucco decoration, and deterioration of the cornices were noted; in the roof, through holes, deformations, and lost sections of the drainpipes [5].
The Theater Today
The theater's founder is the Ministry of Culture of Nizhny Novgorod Region; its full name is the State Budgetary Cultural Institution "Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Drama Theater named after M. Gorky, Order of the Red Banner of Labor," and its official details give 1798 as the year of establishment [2]. Since 2003 the theater has been headed by its director, Honored Worker of Culture of Russia Boris Kainov [3][8].
The theater employs about 150 people, 49 of them actors; about 150,000 spectators see its productions every year. The repertoire of the 228th season included 44 titles, and the biggest audience favorites remained the comedies "The Government Inspector," directed by Alexander Marin, and "Mad Money" by Gennady Shaposhnikov, as well as the musical "A Concert for an Island with Orchestra" by Alla Reshetnikova [3].
The auditorium seats 705 [2]. The stage is 19 meters wide, with a working width of 20; the depth from the red line to the back wall is 12 meters, and the height of the architectural proscenium arch is 8.4 meters [13].
The company includes three People's Artists of Russia — M. P. Alasheyeva, V. V. Nikitin, and A. P. Firstov — and twelve Honored Artists of Russia [12]. In March 2026, the theater's actor Oleg Shapkov received a prize at the regional "Premieres of the Season" festival for performance skill — for his role as Osip in "The Government Inspector" [9].
The theater tours its productions to festivals and collects awards, among them the "Golden Knight" theater forum, the N. Kh. Rybakov Festival, "The Oldest Theaters of Russia in Kaluga," the A. N. Ostrovsky Festival of Russian Classical Drama "Hot Heart," the regional "Premieres of the Season," and the honorary standard of the Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Region [17].
The 229th Season and "Lessons of Love"
The 229th season opened on September 10, 2026, with the premiere of "Lessons of Love," directed by Gennady Trostyanetsky, based on the play "Harlequin Refined by Love" by the 18th-century French dramatist Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux. Trostyanetsky wrote the play in collaboration with the St. Petersburg playwright Lesya Gura specially for the Nizhny Novgorod theater [7].
The costumes were created by the St. Petersburg artist Vyacheslav Okunev, the choreography by the Moscow choreographer Elena Slobodchikova, and the music by the Nizhny Novgorod composer Mark Buloshnikov, who began work with the final song, set to a poem by Jacques Prévert. The role of Lucille is played by Margarita Bagolei. The production is staged as a tribute to the director's classmate in the workshop of Georgy Tovstonogov — the actor and director Vasily Bogomazov, who later worked in Nizhny Novgorod [7]; his name appears in the theater's memorial gallery [15].
Before the start of the season, the director announced plans: the repertoire is to include Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment," Gorky's "Yegor Bulychov and Others," and Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergerac." By tradition, on opening day a "first spectator" is invited onto the stage — the person who was the first to buy a ticket [8].
The Gorky Festival
The M. Gorky Russian Theater Festival is held at the theater. The first took place in Gorky in 1958, for the 90th anniversary of the writer's birth, and the second in 1968, for the centenary; the festivals of 1984 and 1993 were held under the title "Drama and Theater at the Turn of the Centuries" [10].
The current regulations for the festival were approved by Order No. 166 of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Ministry of Culture of June 8, 2011: the founders are the regional government and Ministry of Culture together with the theater, and the festival is held every two years in the last ten days of October. The 12th festival took place in 2025 [10].
The Building at 130
On May 14, 2026, the building, which is called the "architectural pearl" of Nizhny Novgorod in the region, celebrated its 130th anniversary [6]. For the anniversary, Honored Artist of Russia Alexander Myurisep wrote and staged the production "The Nikolaevsky Theater" (12+) — a play based on the transcripts of the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma sessions at which the fate of the building was decided; performances were also held on May 16 and June 26 [6][11].
In the evening the celebration moved out onto the square: at 8:30 p.m. the brass band of the Balakirev Nizhny Novgorod Music College played, and at 9:00 p.m. a fifty-minute street theatrical and multimedia show began. It featured actors of the Nizhny Novgorod Youth Theatre and students of the Nizhny Novgorod Theatre College named after E. A. Evstigneev; the choral parts were sung by students of the Balakirev College, and the Voice of the Theatre was Honored Artist of Russia Vladimir Ganin of the Vera Theatre. The multimedia design was created by the company dreamlaser: through video mapping, the façade "remembered" different eras, turning now into an architectural chronicle, now into a musical instrument [6].
The square in front of the theatre serves as a city stage on other days as well: in June 2026, the main venue of the "Bolshaya Teatralnaya" festival was set up by the Monument to N.A. Dobrolyubov on Theatre Square and next to the theatre itself, while Bolshaya Pokrovskaya became a theatrical route for three days [14].
Sources
- drama.nnov.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Drama Theater — official website, history section — History of the Theater (archive)
- drama.nnov.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Drama Theater — official website, information about the institution — About the Theater
- Kommersant (Volga Region) — feature for the building's anniversary — The Building of the Nizhny Novgorod Gorky Drama Theater Is 130 Years Old (archive)
- ngounb.ru — Lenin Nizhny Novgorod Regional Scientific Library — virtual periodicals exhibit — "Let's Lift the Curtain Just a Little…": History of the Nizhny Novgorod Theater in the Late 18th (archive)
- ugookn.nobl.ru — Department for the State Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites of Nizhny Novgorod Region — expert review report with the building's history and protected features
- nobl.ru — Government of Nizhny Novgorod Region — announcement of the building's anniversary celebration — Nizhny Novgorod to Celebrate the 130th Anniversary of the Drama Theater Building on Bolshaya Pokrovskaya on May 14
- Vremya N — report from the press preview of the premiere — Nizhny Novgorod Residents to See "Lessons of Love" at the Drama Theater (archive)
- drama.nnov.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Drama Theater — The Season Is Open, the First Spectator Is Rewarded (archive)
- nobl.ru — Government of Nizhny Novgorod Region — results of the regional theater showcase — Results of the "Premieres of the 2025-2026 Season" Theater Festival Announced in Nizhny Novgorod Region
- drama.nnov.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Drama Theater — festival regulations — About the Gorky Russian Theater Festival
- nn.aif.ru — AiF-Nizhny Novgorod — on the premiere of the anniversary production — Premiere of the Production "Nikolaevsky Theater" Held in Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
- drama.nnov.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Drama Theater — company roster — The Company (archive)
- drama.nnov.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Drama Theater — stage specifications — Technical Specifications (archive)
- Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — street theater festival program — Program of the "Bolshaya Teatralnaya" Festival Published in Nizhny Novgorod (archive)
- drama.nnov.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Drama Theater — memorial gallery of actors and directors (archive)
- ugookn.nobl.ru — Department for the State Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites of Nizhny Novgorod Region — repeat expert review report on the renovation project
- drama.nnov.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Drama Theater — list of festivals and awards — Our Awards (archive)