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Exhibition of Theatre Posters

During the new season the dress circle foyer will feature an exhibition of original theatre posters. For several decades this unique collection has been carefully maintained in the archives. Now the finest examples of theatre graphics are returning to the public.


With the help of the posters and playbills, a new generation of theatre-goers will come face-to-face with legendary productions of the past.

The theatre poster represents an integrated visualization of a production, an embodiment of its figurative meaning, style, and principal themes. Many outstanding theatre designers approached this work with the same seriousness they brought to the creation of scenery and costumes. The exhibition features items from the 1940s to the 1980s, including works by acknowledged masters of set design such as Tatiana Bruni, Zaven Arshakuni, and Alla Kozhenkova.

The exhibition shows how theatrical aesthetics have changed over the years, though many of the exhibits still look fresh today. One feels drawn in by the intense magnetism of the pithy and piercing humour of Tatiana Bruni's posters for the ballets The Imaginary Fiancé (1946) and Doctor Aibolit (1948). The playbill for the ballet The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights (1949) provides an example of a different stylistic movement. Created by a collective of Palekh artists (headed by Nikolai Parilov), this poster bewitches with its bright decorativeness. New trends appeared in theatre graphics in subsequent decades. In the poster for the ballet Romeo and Juliet (1976) the bold minimalism and outward modesty create an effect of inner strength and depth (created by Natalia Filimova, the production's costume designer). In his poster for Gayane (1972), the ballet that was Boris Eifman's thesis project, Zaven Arshakuni simultaneously conveys a sense of joy and apprehension through a stirring combination of red and violet. Alla Kozhenkova's conceptual work for the ballet Tsar Boris has become a classic theatre poster, distinctive for its use of bold imagery and colossal inner tension. The posters for the ballet Lisa and Colin, or Vain Precaution are the polar opposite of the Tsar Boris poster. Light and graceful, these pieces make us sense the sparkling merriment that characterized this performance, which was one of the real hits of the 1970s repertoire. The exhibits also include early works by Vyacheslav Okunev, who is now the Mikhailovsky Theatre’s Principal Stage Designer. The poster for the opera Gianni Schicchi (1976) stands out for the subtle irony and associative riches that typify all the work of this remarkable set designer.