Lenkom is one of the favorite theaters of Muscovites, which is popular in Russia and known abroad. He reverently preserves his traditions and experiments, while maintaining a recognizable style.
How it all began
Lenkom opened its doors in 1927 as an amateur Theater of Working Youth (TRAM). In it, original performances were staged, in which laziness, drunkenness, and bureaucracy were ridiculed. The performances were very schematic, but still attracted the audience with their novelty and courage. Mikhail Bulgakov, Isaac Dunaevsky, Evgeny Kibrik worked at TRAM.
In 1938, the theater became professional and changed its name to "Theater named after the Lenin Komsomol", abbreviated as Lenkom. For almost a century of history, the main directors and repertoire have changed several times. The theater has experienced ups and downs many times. The first round of popularity fell on the war and post-war years, when the troupe was led by Ivan Bersenev.
The plays of Konstantin Simonov, with their faith in man, victory and a bright future, enjoyed particular success at that time. The performance "A guy from our city" was released a couple of months before the Great Patriotic War and was so successful that it was resumed twice in the post-war years.
Rise time
In the 70-80s, Mark Zakharov began to lead the Lenkom. The theater began to stage performances that were then called cult: they stood in line for tickets for days and watched several times. Then the excitement subsided, but the popularity and love of the audience remained. Cult performances have become classics, and the name of the theater is a guarantee of high quality and creative research.
Two rock operas by Alexei Rybnikov, Juno and Avos and The Star and Death of Joaquin Murieta, became a real sensation. Musical performances were only one of the directions of Lenkom. Mark Zakharov also staged Russian and foreign classics. He also turned to the plays of contemporary playwrights.
Theater premises
The building in which Lenkom is located was erected in 1907-1909 according to the project of Illarion Ivanovich-Shits. In the appearance of the room, the features of Art Nouveau are well traced. The architect freely used a combination of elements of the medieval Romanesque style, classicism and modern forms.
Two powerful square towers with simple rectangular niches are decorated with bas-reliefs. A colonnade stretches between the towers. A row of identical rectangular windows on the first floor interrupts a faceted bay window with a graceful balcony on the second floor. The architecture itself seemed to define the atmosphere inside the building: creative, bold, simple and sophisticated at the same time.
Initially, within the walls of this room was the Club of the Moscow Merchant Assembly. In addition to meetings, performances were also held there. Immediately after the 1917 revolution, another club, the House of Anarchy, settled in the building. Six years later, the premises were given over to a cinema. And only in 1926, the Theater of Working Youth (TRAM) was registered in it, and later Lenkom.
