Moscow Ermolova Theater

a theater created in 1937 as a result of the merging of the M. N. Ermolova Studio and the Theater Studio under the direction of N. P. Khmelev, who headed the new theater until 1945.

One of the new theater’s major productions was Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It (1940). Its best productions were distinguished by psychological depth, vivid realism, and subtle irony; these include Priestley’s Time and the Conways (1940), Fletcher’s The Woman’s Prize (1945), and Ostrovskii’s Easy Money (1945).

From 1945 to 1958, the theater was headed by A. M. Lobanov; later, the theater came under the management of A. B. Shatrin and V. G. Komissarzhevskii. Productions during this period included Maliugin’s Old Friends (1946), Panova’s The Train (1947), People With a Clear Conscience (1947; based on a work by Vershigora), Pavlenko’s Happiness (1948), Globa’s Pushkin (1949), and Gorky’s The Summer People (1949) and Dostigaev and the Others (1952).

Productions of the 1960’s and early 1970’s included Pogodin’s My Friend (1961), De Filippo’s Saturday, Sunday, Monday (1962), Gibson’s The Miracle Worker (1963), Lavrenev’s The Break (1970), Chepurin’s The Snows (1971; about V. I. Lenin), Mitrofanov’s To Give Oneself Up (1971), Valeev’s I Give You Life (1972), Eftimiu’s Hello, Uncle! (1973), Solovich’s The Mysterious Beggar (1973), and Vampilov’s The Eldest Son (1972) and Last Summer in Chulimsk (1974).

In 1974, the theater company included People’s Artists of the RSFSR L. P. Gallis, I. I. Solov’ev, and V. S. Iakut and Honored Artists of the RSFSR R. S. Gubina, S. Kh. Gushanskii, E. S. Kirillova, F. G. Korchagin, S. A. Liubshin, O. V. Nikolaeva, and S. A. Pavlova. Since 1966, the theater’s chief stage director has been People’s Artist of the RSFSR V. A. Andreev.