Movies, cartoons, TV shows. What to watch in the Green Yard at the Sovremennik Theater
As part of the Theater Boulevard festival, a new space, Green Yard, has appeared near the Sovremennik Theater. It will host free creative meetings, screenings of movies, plays and cartoons, with the participation of artists from the Sovremennik Theater and Oleg Tabakov’s Moscow Theater.
Vladimir Mashkov, artistic director of the Sovremennik Theater, People’s Artist of Russia, spoke at the opening. “The theater is going on vacation, but the Sovremennik, which this year will perform together with the Oleg Tabakov Theater on the same stage, decided to extend the holiday season for you,” he said.
Elena Millioti, Honored Artist of Russia, who has performed in the Sovremennik Theater since 1962, also invites visitors to the Green Yard: “Come to us and you will have fun. It’s such a blessing to have many performances preserved on film”.
Poetic atmosphere
In August, the Sovremennik Theater and Oleg Tabakov’s Moscow Theater are not performing on the stage, but audiences will still be able to enjoy their productions: on August 2, the Green Yard site was launched. To the sounds of melodies from Soviet movies played on the piano, the audience is seated in front of a large screen.
Here, in the heart of bustling Moscow, the atmosphere is poetic and peaceful, and the greenery, the subdued evening light, and the comfortable chairs all help viewers to enjoy companionable meetings in the summer theater. While the stages and halls of the Sovremennik and Oleg Tabakov’s Moscow Theater are waiting for the new season, the audience can enjoy theater in a new format.
On the big screen
A rich program awaits visitors to the Green Yard. As Vladimir Mashkov says, the artists of the Sovremennik and Oleg Tabakov Theaters have done a lot for cinema and for the human soul, so for a month there will be screenings of films starring the theaters’ actors, both the current artists and their great predecessors.
On the screen viewers will be able to see Oleg Efremov, Oleg Tabakov, Galina Volchek, Igor Kvasha, Yevgeny Yevstigneev, Lilia Tolmacheva, Viktor Sergachev and other masters of the stage. The schedule includes such cult films as Welcome, or No Strangers Allowed (1964) directed by Elem Klimov, Once More About Love (1968) directed by Georgy Natanson, and Look After the Car (1966) directed by Eldar Ryazanov.
Among them is the first directorial work of Oleg Efremov, A Bridge is Being Built (1965), in which all the young actors from the Sovremennik theater starred. Vladimir Mashkov emphasizes: “I think this is an amazing, honest and very bright work, created by great masters”.
Viewers are also invited to attend screenings of TV productions, including At the Bottom (1972), Echelon (1988), Hurry up to do good (1982), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1992) and other productions, which have been preserved on film, and thus see different moments from the history of the theater.
In the mornings, for children, there will be screenings of cartoons voiced by Oleg Tabakov, Valentin Gaft and Marina Neyelova. These will include episodes of Prostokvashino, Alice in Wonderland, 38 Parrots, Bobik on a visit to Barbos and other animated films from among viewers’ childhood favorites. Young viewers will also be able to enjoy children’s movies, including Pippi Longstocking, Timur and His Team and Goodbye Mary Poppins.
Important dates
“In anticipation of the 70 th anniversary of the Sovremennik Theater, which will be celebrated in 2026, you will see our founders on the screen. August 17 marks the 90 th anniversary of Oleg Tabakov’s birth, and we will have some amazing screenings. Oleg Pavlovich starred in more than 120 films, and you will see his best works,” says Vladimir Mashkov.
Other dates with thematic screenings and meetings will not go unnoticed: the day of the end of the Battle of Leningrad (August 9), the birthday of Viktor Rozov (August 21), the day of the Soviet defeat of German troops in the Battle of Kursk (August 23), the Day of Russian Cinema (August 27), and Konstantin Simonov’s memorial day (August 28). On August 24, there will be a marathon screening of the series Liquidation, with Vladimir Mashkov in the main role, and a meeting with the creators of the series.
Forever Alive
The Green Yard opened with a screening of the TV version of the play Forever Alive. It was with a performance of that play that the history of the Sovremennik Theater began, back in 1956. On the screen, the audience saw the version of the play made for television in 1976. It was staged by Oleg Efremov and starred a mixture of young and older actors. The television version will be screened again on August 21.
“I was lucky: I took part in the first performance of the Sovremennik Theater — it was not called Sovremennik at the time, but the Studio of Young Actors,” recalls Elena Millioti. “Oleg Nikolayevich Efremov was involved — it was he who created this studio together with his friends who were graduates from the Moscow Art Theater School, including Yevgeny Yevstigneev, Oleg Tabakov, Lilia Tolmacheva. In the 1956 production, I had a small role: I played a girl who comes to see the main character off as he leaves for the front. This play meant a lot to our theater. This play ran for a long time, it was much loved by everyone involved, and many generations of artists have performed in it. It has opened every season at the Sovremennik Theater”.
It is symbolic that the Green Yard opened with this play. The title, Forever Alive, could also refer to the actors who will come to life on the big screen for a month in front of a new generation of viewers. The actors remain alive on film — and thus will live on forever in history and memory.
The Green Yard is open August 2 through August 31 every day except Monday. All events are free of charge and the current schedule is published on the project website.