Yesterday, on August 30, 2009, onal get-together of the company took place on the eve of the 254^th season opening.  At 10 AM, a memorial flower laying ceremony took place at the St. Peter and Paul cathedral in the honor of two Empresses: Empress Elizabeth, who had signed the Verdict on establishment of the Russian theater in 1756, and Empress Alexandra, spouse of Nickolas I, the name of which was given to the theater in 1832. At the company gathering, Artistic Director of the theater Valery Fokin told about plans for the upcoming season: new performances, tours, festival demonstrations, and introduced a new actor, graduate of the B. Shchukin Theater Institute Tikhon Zhiznevsky, to the troupe.   The list of first premieres of the new season on the big stage includes: “Uncle Vanya” by A. Chekhov directed by Andrey Serban (the first night on September 11), “Izotov” by M. Durnenkov directed by Andrey Moguchy (the first night on October 23), “Hamlet” by W. Shakespeare directed by Valery Fokin (the first night is scheduled for April 2010). Performances on the small stage will include “Vampilov. A Trilogy” directed by Oleg Eremin (the first night is scheduled for November 2009) and “The Tzars” by H. Kortasar directed by young director Yevgenia Safonova.  The theater will go with a tour to Warsaw in early October to show its performance “The Marriage” by N. Gogol; the same performance will represent St. Petersburg at the International Christmas Festival of Arts in Novosibirsk (December 2009).  Yury Butusov’s performance “Man Equals Man” by B. Brecht will be shown on November 17 in Moscow under the frames of the Stanislavsky Season International Theater Festival, while at the Chekhov International Theater Festival scheduled for early 2010 in Moscow the theater will show its new performance “Uncle Vanya.”  Tours in Paris and Kaliningrad are also on the schedule for the next season. 

Deputy Chair of the Directors Board of the Northwest Bank of Sberbank of Russia Tamara Tsepota congratulated the company with the new season. The Northwest Bank of Sberbank of Russia is the general sponsor of the Alexandrinsky Theater; it also supports holding of the International Alexandrinsky Theater Festival and many other theater’s projects. The Sberbank has also established an annual award for actors.  This year, Yanina Lakoba and Distinguished Artist of Russia Arkady Volgin became laureates of the Sberbank Award; Lakoba was honored for the principal role of Ksenia in the performance “Ksenia. The History of Love,” and Arkady Volgin was also cheered for his 70^th birthday.  In the new season, public will see these wonderful actors in new roles: Yanina Lakoba will play the role of Sonya in Andrey Serban’s performance “Uncle Vanya,” the first night of which will open the new season on September 11 and the 4^th International Alexandrinsky Festival, and Arkady Volgin is rehearsing in the new Andrey Moguchy’s performance “Izotov,” with the first night of which the festival will be concluded.