|
 “Zazerkalye”
(that means "Beyond the Looking Glass") State Musical
theatre for Children has been opened in 1987. It has been created
on the initiative of the director A. Petrov and the conductor P.
Bubelnikov on the basis of the "Musical Theatre Actor"
course at the Leningrad City Institute of Theatre, Music and
Cinema.
"Zazerkalye" is a musical theatre. It
is peculiar for its light and undistorted approach to art, kindred
to the paradoxical spirit of "Alice in Wonderland" or to
Mozart's childish lightness. The plays are always directed towards
the child in every one of us. But they also address the wisdom and
maturity that is present in every child. The theatre's musicality
is many-sided. It transcends every play and finds itself not only
in the sound of the orchestra and the actors' singing, but also in
their every dance movement, gesture or arabesque, in every prosaic
dialogue, in the visual art of scenery and costume-making.
Over its nine-year period of existence, the
theatre has staged more than 20 plays. The theatre uses the works
of generally accepted masters, like J.S. Bach, Mozart, Donizetti,
Shostakovich and Stravinsky, and also of our contemporaries, like
Banevich, Petrova, Vysotsky, Rogalev, Podheitz. The creation of
author's plays based on great masterpieces of world literature and
instrumental music (like Chaikovsky's "Children's
Album", "The Shepherd and the Chimney-sweep" and
"Christmas Mystery" based on J.S. Bach's music), is the
theatre's specialty.
"Zazerkalye" has a steady reputation
of one of St. Petersburg's most visited theatres. Its plays have
been awarded at numerous festivals and contests. "The
Snuff-box City" by S. Banevich, "Children's Album"
by P.I Chaikovsky, "Noah's Ark" by B. Britten and
"Finist the Bright-eyed Falcon" by I. Rogalev were
awarded the Association of Theatre Workers of the Russian
Federation prize in the "best play of the year"
nomination.
One of the theatre's last stagings is an opera
by Gaetano Donizetti titled "Love Potion" that has not
been staged in opera theatres for over 30 years. It has been
awarded the 1996 Golden Sophite, the highest award of the
Association of Theatre Workers of St. Petersburg in three
nominations: "best directing" (A.V. Petrov), "best
conducting" (P.A. Bubelnikov) and "best female vocal
part" (O.A. Pchelintseva). In 1997 E. Akimov has received the
Golden Mask theatre award for his role of Nemorino in the same
play.
In 1996 artistic director A. Petrov and chief
conductor P. Bubelnikov became laureates of the St. Petersburg
Government prize for unique contributions to the development of
children's opera art.
The theatre's yearly tours to Moscow
(1989-1993), its participation in national and international
festivals (Orenburg 1991, Pskov 1992, Samara 1995, Kostomuksha
1996) have always been highly evaluated by public and the media.
In 1993 the theatre's troupe has visited Lubeck, Germany while the
city was celebrating its 850th anniversary. During the same year
the theatre has carried out a staging of G. Menotti's opera
"The Medium" in co-operation with the Boston Operafest
troupe, performed in the U.S. and in St. Petersburg, on the stage
of the Hermitage theatre.
| Address: |
13,
Rubinshtein Street |
| Subway
(Metro): |
Dostoevskaya
(Browse
map) |
| Tel: |
+
7 (812) 112 5135 |
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