STATE AUTONOMOUS CULTURAL INSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF TATARSTAN
Naberezhnye Chelny State Puppet Theater
Naberezhnye Chelny State Puppet Theater was founded in 1987 by Alexander Yankelevich, an Honored Artist of the Republic of Tatarstan, and was the first professional theater group in the city of Naberezhnye Chelny.
Over the years of painstaking work, the theater has staged more than 170 performances, annually the theater shows more than 550 performances, which are attended by about 50,000 spectators. Today, the theater's current repertoire includes 55 performances in Russian and Tatar, performances for adults, experimental and inclusive productions. Taking into account the needs of the audience and the national aspect, the theater pays special attention to productions based on both Russian and foreign fiction: "The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Heroes", "The Golden Key", "The Gray Neck", "Fedorino Mountain", "Moidodyr", "The Story of Cinderella", "Red little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf", "Winnie-the-Pooh and everything", "The Snow Queen", and according to the works of Tatar authors: "Siherle Urman ("The Enchanted Forest"), "Elan-patsha" ("The Padishah Snake"), "Sak-sok", "Su anasi" ("Vodyanaya"), "Zohra Yoldyz" ("Zuhra Star"), including for older viewers based on the famous works of classics – F.M. Dostoevsky "The Meek", J.-B. Moliere "The Miser". Each theatrical season is marked by the release of at least 5-6 original premieres, which the team prepares under the guidance of invited directors of Russian puppet theaters.
For many years, the team has been actively promoting the best traditions of theatrical art to the children of the cities of the Republic of Tatarstan and Russia, annually expanding the geography of tours, which currently covers the entire country.
The Puppet Theater is actively engaged in festival activities, representing the Republic as the "leading national puppet theater." Over the past decade, the theater's performances have been recognized by critics and audiences and awarded diplomas in various categories, emphasizing the high professional level of artistic, directing and performing skills at prestigious international and interregional theater festivals in Moscow, Mytishchi, Chelyabinsk, Veliky Novgorod, Samara, Volgograd, Vladimir, Tolyatti, Kazan, Izhevsk, Cheboksary and many others.
Since 2008, three creative projects have been successfully operating under the single brand "Workhorse" on the basis of the Naberezhnye Chelny State Puppet Theater: the puppet Theater festival, the theater educational forum and the creative laboratory of young directors.
A breakthrough in the repertoire policy of the theater was the staging of a play based on the fantastic story of the great Russian writer F. M. Dostoevsky – "The Meek" (directed by I. Zainiev), which subsequently entered the long list of the Russian National Theater Award "Golden Mask", becoming, according to the expert council, one of the notable productions of the 2020/2021 season.
Since 2017, the theater team has been a participant in the Federal project of the United Russia party "Culture of the Small Motherland", the direction "Theaters for Children", during which the theater's repertoire is annually updated with new modern performances.
The high level of professionalism and acting skills allows residents of Naberezhnye Chelny to win collective and personal victories based on the results of city competitions, as well as the annual theater Award of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan "Tantana" ("Triumph").
