On November 23, 2008, People’s Artist of Russia Victor Smirnov celebrated his creative jubilee: 25 years of his career at the Alexandrinsky Theater.   Victor Smirnov came to the Pushkin Drama Theater already an experienced master, the premier of the Penza Regional Drama Theater named after A.V. Lunacharsky. In his 10 years there, he had played more than 40 roles.  His first role at the Pushkin Theater was Yemelyan Pugachev in the legendary Rostislav Goryayev’s performance “The Captain’s Daughter” after A. Pushkin (1984).  This work brought the well-deserved success to the actor and placed him into the leading group of the theater’s actors.  Smirnov had played a whole variety of characters in the past years.  Hamlet and Othello, Fyodor Chaliapin and Peter the First, Chekhov’s Chebutykin and Famusov, Yaichnitsa, Samson Silych Bolshov and Mamayev, as well as many other colorful characters gained the scale and artistic integrity in Smirnov’s personification.     Presently, the actor has roles of Tyapkin-Lyapkin in Valery Fokin’s “Inspector General” (2002) and Ivan Nikiforovich Dovgochkhun in Andrey Moguchy’s performance “The Ivans” after “The Story of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikifirovich” and other writings of N. Gogol (2007) in his repertoire.