Moscow Russian Drama Theatre under the direction of Schepenko

Good to know

• Performing arts theater
• 2 kmfrom Moscow center
• Good for kids
• Restroom
• 4.8 / 5316 reviews
• Moscow

From a dormitory studio to a chamber stage

The story of this theatre is inseparable from its founders, director Mikhail Shchepenko and actress-director Tamara Basnina. Their first company met on 7 October 1974 as a student theatre studio at Moscow's Mendeleev Institute, with amateur actors rehearsing after their day jobs. The very next production took shape two years later, and the troupe went on to make its name through bold, semi-rebellious shows that struggled against the constraints of the Soviet stage.↗

After earning the title of "People's Theatre" in the early 1980s and passing through studio spaces on Novoslobodskaya and on Chekhov Street, the ensemble gained professional status and, in 1987, settled into its home at 64/17 Zemlyanoy Val as the Moscow Theatre of Russian Drama under the direction of Mikhail Shchepenko. Over the decades the company has staged more than sixty productions and is admired for blending the psychological realism of the Russian tradition with the inventiveness of the Vakhtangov school.

The building and the feeling inside

The theatre occupies an intimate historic merchant mansion near Taganskaya. Visitors describe a warm, low-slung interior with vaulted ceilings and even a bell rung in place of the conventional theatre chime—a small detail that sets the tone. The single hall is genuinely compact, fewer than twenty rows, with each tier stepped slightly higher than the last, so the stage reads clearly from every seat.↗

The signature touch is hospitality. Before the curtain—or during the interval—guests are treated to tea with gingerbread and baranki, and reviewers keep using the same word for it: cozy, as if visiting friends rather than a theatre. This domestic warmth, paired with the small-room intensity, is the experience people come back for.↗

What is on the stage

The season leans on the Russian canon and on spiritually searching material. The theatre's best-known production is Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich after Alexei Tolstoy, in which Shchepenko himself plays the title role; that work earned him the Moscow Government Prize in literature and art in 1998. Other staples include the historical tragedy Tsarsky Put, set against Russia's Time of Troubles, the poetic drama Kulikovo Field drawn from Ivan Shmelev, an optimistic drama Ne uynivay after Tvardovsky, the Ostrovsky comedy Serdtse ne kamen (A Heart Is Not a Stone), and Chekhov evenings such as On Love and More and a show built on his short stories.↗

Family and youth performances are a core part of the mission, making up nearly half the repertoire. Around the holidays the programme fills with children's favourites—Morozko (Little Winter), The Snow Queen, The Twelve Months, Bengali Lights after Nosov, and Johnny Vorobyov's Holidays from Krapivin—staged in the same close, expressive style. The theatre also runs a school-theatre festival, directing labs and workshops, so a visit can feel connected to a wider creative community.↗↗

Planning your visit

The box office at Zemlyanoy Val 64/17 opens daily from 11:00 to 19:00, and tickets are modest—historically in the region of a few hundred to around two thousand roubles, with children's shows often cheaper. The nearest metro is Taganskaya, an easy walk from the centre. Card and contactless payments are accepted, and the venue has a restroom.↗↗

A few practical notes from the theatre itself: admission to the hall stops after the third bell, so aim to arrive early; one ticket is required per person regardless of age; and because mobile internet can be unreliable underground and in the centre, it is wise to print your electronic tickets or save them as image files on your phone beforehand.↗

By car, the theatre advises that parking is only street-level city parking in the adjacent Teternin Lane, and warns that satellite navigation around this part of Moscow can be unreliable—so arriving on foot from Taganskaya is the simpler option.↗

For families this is a particularly good match: the small chamber keeps children engaged, sightlines are excellent from every seat, and the schedule offers a steady stream of age-appropriate fairy-tale productions—making it a well-loved first-theatre outing as much as a treat for fans of classic Russian drama.↗↗