The Moscow State Theater, “Lenkom by Mark Zakharov,” is a Soviet and Russian state drama theater located in the Tverskoy district of Moscow, founded in 1927 as the Theater of Working Youth (TRAM). In 1937, it was merged with the Ruben Simonov Theater Studio. February 20, 1938, renamed the “Moscow State Theater was named after Lenin Komsomol.” In 1948 it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and in 1977 – the Order of the October Revolution.
For 46 years, from 1973 to 2019, the artistic director and chief director of the theater was Mark Anatolyevich Zakharov.
On October 3, 2019, Mark Borisovich Varshaver took over the theater’s leadership. He remained in the position of director of the theater, in which he worked for forty years under Mark Zakharov, but with the addition of authority to determine the policy of the creative team in all directions.
On November 21, 2019, the Lenkom Theater was named after Mark Zakharov, and now the theater is officially called the Moscow State Theater “Lenkom Mark Zakharov.”
The theater building overlooking the red line of Malaya Dmitrovka Street was built for the Merchant Club in 1909, according to the project of the architect Illarion Ivanov-Shitz and his assistant Vyacheslav Oltarzhevsky. An Ionic colonnade of a large order is in the center between the two towers. All parts of the façade are decorated with Art Nouveau and early neoclassical stucco.
The merchant club for the aristocratic intelligentsia – the Volkonskys, Dolgorukovs, Obolenskys, Trubetskoys, and Apraksins – was in the building until 1917. The club hosted dramatic and musical performances, musical and vocal divertissement, and literary evenings. In 1913-1914, an extension was made to the club according to the project of architects Vladimir Adamovich and Vladimir Mayat.
Working hours: daily, 11:00–19:30, break 15:00–16:00
Address: Malaya Dmitrovka street, 6, Moscow
Nearest metro: Tverskaya, Chekhovskaya, Pushkinskaya.
