Samarkand Regional Russian Drama Theatre

One of Uzbekistan's oldest Russian-language theatres: a state theatre since 1918, named after Chekhov in 1978, now staging classics and children's shows on Buyuk Ipak Yoli Street.

More than a century on stage

According to some historical accounts, Russian-language plays were staged in Samarkand as early as 1876, when Fonvizin's comedy “The Minor” was performed on 15 October. An order of 7 August 1918 turned the amateur company into a state theatre, and that autumn it premiered Ostrovsky's “The Storm”. While Samarkand was capital of the Uzbek SSR it ranked as the republic's Russian drama theatre, becoming a regional theatre after the capital moved to Tashkent in 1930.

Chekhov's stage

On 14 February 1978 the theatre was named after Anton Chekhov, and at the end of that month the company moved into a building originally designed as a House of Culture — its current home on Buyuk Ipak Yoli Street — leaving its historic old premises to the puppet theatre. Its official name today is the Samarkand Regional Russian Drama Theatre, but locals still call it the Chekhov Theatre. The repertoire mixes classics such as Chekhov's “Uncle Vanya”, contemporary comedies and children's fairy tales every Sunday morning.

Did you know?

During the Second World War the actors performed for army units and in hospitals. In 1959 a youth studio opened at the theatre, bringing in graduates of drama schools in Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv, Tashkent and elsewhere, and Alexander Grinberg, chief director for 23 years from 1974, remains a towering figure in its history.

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