Grodno. The Puppet Theater

The Grodno Puppet Theater building is the oldest theater venue in Belarus, specially built for theatrical performances. The theater was built between 1784 and 1793 at the request of Stanislav Poniatowski, the last king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The building was originally built as a theater, although some publications indicate that it was rebuilt from the arena, which was located nearby and was built earlier. Initially, the theater was a two-story building devoid of decorative elements. Later, the building was rebuilt many times, receiving its current appearance with pilasters, triangular pediments, sandricks above the windows and round window openings on the third floor. A canopy supported by rectangular columns adorns the main entrance.

In February 1940, the Central Puppet Theater of Sergei Obraztsov toured Grodno. After the occupation of Poland, Polish director Vladislav Yarema and his wife Stefania found themselves in Grodno, who created a troupe of the puppet theater. On February 2, 1940, with the support of Sergei Obraztsov, the Grodno State Puppet Theater was opened under the direction of Vladislav Yarema, which became the first professional puppet group in the city.

The Grodno Puppet Theater led a semi-professional existence at the City House of Creativity until November 1, 1980, when the Grodno Regional Puppet Theater was officially established by the decision of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee. The troupe was formed from graduates of the Belarusian State Theater and Art Institute, the N. Cherkasov Leningrad Institute of Theater, Music and Cinema and graduates of the Grodno College of Culture.

The first performance that the audience saw on May 25, 1981, was the play "Ludwig and Tutta" by V. Bogach and S. Khristovsky based on the book by Ya. Ekholm directed by S. Yurkevich. The performances of Vasilisa the Beautiful by E. Chernyak, Sinbad the Sailor by Y. Friedman and V. Shulzhik, and Cinderella by E. Schwartz became real classics of the Grodno Puppet Theater and delighted several generations of viewers.

Performances based on the famous fairy tales "Morozko" by M. Shurinova, "Beauty and the Beast" by Leprance de Beaumont, "The Road to Bethlehem" by S. Kovalev fell in love with both children and parents. Recently, the theater has been actively working with the youngest audience in the "baby theater" format. Performances of "Baby Santa Claus", "Buka, the harmful hare" and "Who said "Meow?"" they were highly appreciated by young parents and became popular among children.