In the nineties of the past century, the repertoire theater traditional for Soviet stage art was supplanted by the so-called entreprise. The word has French roots and translates as "enterprise". The modern theater of entreprise is really a business created by an entrepreneur. The peculiarity here is that the entrepreneur does not have a permanent troupe, but invites actors from other theaters to participate in a particular production.
Peering into the story
The phenomenon of enterprises is not new. It arose in world art almost simultaneously with the birth of professional acting troupes. In Russia, the theaters of Sinelnikov, Diaghilev, Korsh were private in the 19th century. With the demise of the entrepreneurship that followed the October Revolution, enterprises also disappeared. And when the market economy returned, great hopes began to lay on the enterprise. At first, she saw creative people as a shout of freedom, an opportunity to say and do something new. However, it soon became clear that the businessmen financing the performances dictate their terms, because for them the main thing is to make a profit from the business in which they invest money. What can cause public success and make a profit? Often these are purely entertaining productions, not burdened with intellectual burden and the “eternal questions” of moral choice. According to many cultural figures, in this case the modern theater of enterprises is deprived of its true significance and the main mission - to awaken conscience and thoughts. However, there are also capacious and expressive performances in this niche.
In Moscow
The modern Theater of Entreprise, formerly called the "Oasis Production Center", is led by Albert Moginov. Among more than two dozen performances, the production based on A. Chekhov’s plays “Little Comedies”, which was the very first in the theater, is still very popular. Two incendiary vaudeville stories - “The Bear” and “The Proposal” - are played in the two-act performance by famous and beloved actors Maria Aronova, Sergey Shakurov, Mikhail Policeitsimako and others. The repertoire includes performances staged based on the works of contemporary domestic and foreign authors: Ivan Vyrypaev, Bernard Weber, Mary Orr and others.
The play “Two on a Swing” based on a play by William Gibson last year won fame in the nomination “Best Entreprise”. The modern Theater of Entreprise shows its performances in Moscow, tours around our country and abroad.
In St. Petersburg
In 1988, the Russian Entreprise Theater named after A. Mironov was created here. The first production was Gogol's Dead Souls, and from that moment the theater began to position itself oriented towards Russian classics. The repertoire, of course, contains works by foreign authors. The theater has a permanent address: Bolshoy Avenue of the Petrograd Side, house 75/35. The head of the theater is Rudolf Furmanov. One of the rooms of the theater is a kind of museum of Andrei Mironov.