Despite the rapid development of cinema and television, the popularity of the theater is growing more and more. If in the 90s of the last century the performances were in half-empty halls, then now the era of full houses has come. Nothing will ever replace the actors' live game and the emotions that they bring to the audience. Every major city in Russia has theaters, many of them survived the rebirth. The Zimny Theater (Sochi) is very popular with local and visiting theatergoers.
Historical information about the Winter Theater in Sochi
The Winter Theater in Sochi began to be built in 1934. The project was led by a young architect from Moscow, Konstantin Chernopyatov. His project was personally selected by Joseph Stalin. K. Chernopyatov's consultants were the famous Moscow architects V. Schuko and V. Gelfreich. The peculiarity of the project is that the facade of the building does not look at the main street of the city, but is turned towards the sea. Spectators can go out to enjoy the air at intermission or enjoy the beautiful scenery.
Winter Theater (Sochi) was built over 3 years and was ready for commissioning in 1937. In the auditorium a box was provided for I. Stalin. From it was a move to an underground bomb shelter. The prewar years were very difficult for the Soviet people, people were experiencing denunciations, surveillance. For representatives of state security guarding important persons of the state, special lodges were built next to the stage. From there, no view was visible, but the auditorium was clearly visible. I.V. Stalin never managed to attend a single performance at the Winter Theater.
First performances at the Winter Theater
In May 1938, the Zimniy Theater received the first spectators. Sochi became the city in which the team of the theater. Stanislavsky from Moscow. The audience was shown the opera The Tsar’s Bride by composer N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. On the stage were presented magnificent scenery. The talented staging of the famous work and subsequent performances by other groups turned the ordinary Black Sea city into an elite all-Union health resort.
There was no troupe in the theater, so the stage was provided for the performance of theatrical troupes throughout the country. The performances brought by the Moscow and Leningrad theaters, the collectives of Kiev, Krasnodar, Tbilisi, Minsk and many other cities enjoyed great success. The Sochi Winter Theater (photo in the article) provided the stage with famous actors A. Raikin, I. Ilinsky, S. Lemeshev, D. Oistrakh. The entire list of celebrities is impossible to list. In 1968, the Sochi Philharmonic Society was created in the theater, uniting groups of different genres.
Interior and exterior design
Winter Theater (Sochi) is built in a classic style. After the commissioning of the building, the building was placed under state protection, and it received the status of a cultural monument of republican significance. The building is surrounded by 88 columns around the perimeter, the facade is decorated with a large portico, on the pediment of which there are 3 female figures made in the workshop of V. I. Mukhina. They represent Painting, Architecture and Sculpture. A staircase leads to the main entrance of the theater from the sea. On two sides, it is bounded by stone protrusions having the shape of a parallelepiped.
The auditorium seats 970 people. In the decoration of the interior used gold, blue and white colors. This allowed to create a rich interior. A chic 300-lamp chandelier made of rock crystal hangs in the hall. In 2005, the theater underwent a major overhaul and large-scale reconstruction, during which chairs were replaced for spectators, the orchestra pit was expanded, the stage decoration was updated, technological equipment and the heating system of the building were replaced.
Theater repertoire
At the initiative of Yuri Bashmet, the country's best drama theaters perform on the theater stage. The repertoire of the Winter Theater (Sochi) is constantly changing, as the theater still does not have its own troupe. Despite this, the auditorium is never empty, theater posters are constantly updated. On tour in Sochi come not only domestic but also foreign performers. Every summer, the Kinotavr film festival is held here, in winter the Kivin festival of laughter and humor and the International Arts Festival, the Kinotavrik children's art festival, various festivals and competitions of local importance are held here.
On the posters of the Winter Theater you can see the names of the most popular performances of Moscow theaters and groups in St. Petersburg. Nonresident citizens can familiarize themselves with it on the theater website. The Sochi Winter Theater (a telephone for information is indicated on the theater’s website) publishes announcements of upcoming tours on social networks on Facebook and VKontakte.