On November 17 and 18, 2009 master-classes on “The specialties of PR activities in the theater sphere” took place at the Northwest Academy of State Service. They were carried out at the example of the Department of Youth Projects of the Alexandrinsky Theater and the program of “Formation of the Youth Audience and Cultural Theater Media.” Svetlana Yurtaikina, Head of the Department of Youth Projects of the Alexandrinsky Theater, Sergey Ilchenko, Head of the Department of Radio and Television of the SPbSU School of Journalism, and theater columnist Maria Boshakova took part in the master classes. Students from several St. Petersburg universities participated in the master classes. Various issues related with reaching the audience were covered at the Round Table on November 18: the ways to attract young audience to the theater arts and build contact points with the youth theater audience. Representatives of the Theater on the Basil Island and the Tovstonogov Big Drama Theater took part in this Round Table. Employees of the Alexandrinsky Theater became members of the Jury of the student competition of theater publications “Theater through the Eyes of the Audience.” Its results will be concluded in early December. The Alexandrinsky Theater will provide with honorable awards to the winners.

On November 17, 2009, the Alexandrinsky Theaters performance Man Equals Man will be shown on the stage of the Chekhov MKhT under the frames of the Moscow International Stanislavsky Season Festival; Director Yury Butusov staged this performance after B. Brechts play "Mann ist Mann." Yury Butusov has been awarded with Stanislavsky Award for his performance Waiting for Godot. The Stanislavsky Season Festival is taking place from October 30 to November 24; its program presents performances: Medea by J. Anouih after Senecas plays (Director Kama Ginkas); the Cherry Orchard by A. Chekhov (Director Mark Zakharov); Isabellas Room by J. Lauwers and A. Bonnem (Director Jan Lauwers, Belgium); The Potudan River by A. Platonov (Director Sergey Zhenovach); The Dolls House by G. Ibsen (Director Lee Bruer, USA); Metabolic by A. Pessyani (Director A. Pessyani);

On November 2, 2009, the award ceremony for the St. Petersburg top theater award Golden Soffit took place at the Mikhailovsky Theater. Peoples Artist of Russia Nickolay Marton was honored with the Nomination Councils special award for the Creative Longevity and Unique Contribution into the Theater Culture of St. Petersburg.

The first night of the performance “Izotov” will conclude the Fourth International Theater Festival. The premiere performances will take place on October 23, 24 and 25. Modern drama is a rare guest at the Academy stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater. Mikhail Durnenkov’s play “Sanctuary” was the starting point of the stage version of the text. In the process of rehearsals the play writer and director Andrey Moguchy created a number of variations of the expansion of the plot, trying to show more clearly the acute conflict inside the main character and to reveal the “hot buttons” typical for an entire generation of people trouble-free externally and desperate inside, running away from themselves and longing to find a way to their own selves.

Yesterday, on October 20, 2009, laureates of the K. Stanislavsky Award of the year 2009 were announced. Head of the creative and research department of the Alexandrinsky Theater, Doctor of Arts History Alexander Chepurov was acknowledged as the best Theater Historian. Ludmila Maksakova, People’s Artist of Russia and actress of the Vakhtangov Theater, was the Chair of the Jury this year. Laureates were selected in eight nominations. Artist Alexandr Shishkin was awarded in the nomination for “The Artistic Decoration of the Performance.” He had decorated a number of performances at the Alexandrinsky Theater: “Don Juan” by Moliere (Director G. Trostyanetsky, 2000), “Petersburg” by A. Bely (Director Andrey Moguchy, 2005), “The Ivans” (Director Andrey Moguchy, 2007), “Man Equals Man” by B. Brecht (Director Yu. Butusov), “Izotov” by M. Durnenkov (Director Andrey Moguchy, 2008).

By initiative of the Alexandrinsky Theater, the Russian Post and the Marka Publishing Center issued jubilee postal envelopes dedicated to Bruno Freindlikhs 100th anniversary (1909 - 2002). Actors portrait on the Alexandrinsky Theater background is placed in the right upper corner of the envelope; portraits of Bruno Freindlikh in his roles of various periods are located in the central part of the envelope: Hamlet Hamlet by W. Shakespeare, Director G.M. Kozintsev, 1954), Baron The Low Depths by M. Gorky, Director L.S. Vivien, 1956), Balyasnikov Old Arbats Fairy Tales by A. Arbuzov, Director A.A. Musil, 1971), Turgenev Elegy by P. Pavlovsky, Director I.S. Olshvanger, 1975).

On October 9, 2009 a session of the theater section (“Gogol and Theater”) of the Jubilee International Conference dedicated to the 200^th anniversary of N. Gogol’s birth will take place at the Tsar’s Lobby of the Alexandrinsky Theater. The conference is carried out in Moscow and St. Petersburg on October 5-10. Presentations dedicated to dramatic writing of N. Gogol will be made at the session on October 9.

On October 10, 2009, centenary of the birth of People’s Artist of the USSR, Laureate of the State Award of the USSR Bruno Freindlikh will come about. In the morning, wreath laying will take place at the Bruno Freindlikh monument at the Liberators pathway of Volkovskoe Cemetery. Opening of an exhibition dedicated to theater works of Bruno Freindlikh will take place at the St. Petersburg Theater Library 3 PM; the exhibition will include billboards, portraits, and photographs.

Two performances from the festival program of the “Golden Mask in St. Petersburg” will be shown on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater. On October 2, Petersburgians will see Pyotr Fomenko’s performance “A Fortuneless Young Girl” (Pyotr Fomenko Workshop Theater); this performance was nominated for the Golden Mask Award in four nominations: “The best dramatic performance. The big form,” “The best Director’s work,” “The best male role” (Yevgeny Tsyganov) and “The best female role.” Actress Polina Ogureyeva, who has played Larisa Ogudalova, was awarded with the “Golden Mask.”
Yury Butusov’s performance “King Lear” by W. Shakespeare will be shown under the festival frames on October 8.

On October 7, 2009, a creative soiree of People’s Artist of Russia Nikolay Marton dedicated to his 75^th birthday will take place at the St. Petersburg Capella. The program of the soiree will include scenes from performances, monologues, reading of the Russian poetry of XIX-XX centuries. Sergey Prokofiev’s “Ivan the Terrible” oratorio for the choir, orchestra and reciter will be performed in the second part of the jubilee concert. The Capella’s choir and orchestra under conduction of People’s Artist of the USSR Vladislav Chernushenko will take part in the concert.