A Guest Tour of the Moscow Art Theater’s School and Studio in Tomsk
30 march 2023
Tomsk hosted a guest tour by the Moscow Art Theater’s School and Studio organized with the support of SIBUR's Formula for Good Deeds program. In addition to enjoying the theater’s productions, Tomsk’s residents were also invited to visit a special exhibition of artworks created by the theater’s artists. Some 60 young people attended a series of lectures and master classes given by the professors of the Studio and School and auditioned to be admitted to the Acting Department at this school of nationwide renown.
The aim of this collaboration between the Moscow Art Theater’s School and Studio and SIBUR is to promote the development of the culture scene in the cities where SIBUR has a presence by facilitating exposure to contemporary theater and by providing support to talented performers. The school’s touring program included two graduation productions by the fourth-year students attending the Acting Department (representing Marina Brusnikina and Sergey Shchedrin's Workshop) put on stage at the local Palace of Folk Arts: "The Iliad", based on the epic poem attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer, and "The Days of Our Lives", based on the drama penned by the Russian writer and playwright Leonid Andreev. The lobby of the Avangard Palace of Folk Art got converted temporarily into an exhibition titled "Dialogue with the classics" featuring works of art by the students studying at the Department of Scenography and Theatrical Technologies and offering the spectators an opportunity to enjoy viewing these exhibits while waiting for the performance to begin. All in all, the performances and the exhibition put on by the theater were seen by about 10 000 visitors.
On top of that, Tomsk State University hosted lectures and master classes given by the professors of the school’s Departments of Production, Acting, and Scenography and Theatrical Technologies that brought some 30 young attendees. 60 aspiring actors auditioned for admission to the Acting Department of the Moscow Art Theater’ School and Studio, of whom 7 were selected to take part in the second round of auditions scheduled to take place later this summer.
This project got underway exactly a year ago. I'm glad to be back here. This means we’ve already started a tradition. I'm grateful to SIBUR for making this happen. Our tour is equally important for the actors on stage and for our audience, Igor Zolotovitsky, rector of the Moscow Art Theater’s School and Studio, noted.
Ekaterina Khaunina, Chair of the Department of Art Economics and Cultural Policy at the Production Department of the Moscow Art Theater’s School and Studio, offered her perspective on the goals of the educational program:
Its value is in being able to promote the profession of a producer. What attending young people get from us at our lectures and meetings is a complete set of information they need to know about how to prepare for their entrance exams, what the definition of the role of a "producer" in today’s world is, and whether they have an accurate understanding of what this profession entails. In my opinion, this is the part of our tour that highlights the importance of social investment, human capital development, and personal growth. We saw that we sparked a lot of interest. Those who came to our events were asking interesting and pointed questions and were really involved in the discussion that focused on the kinds of opportunities that will be available to them as students of our Production Department. We are grateful to SIBUR for the opportunity to collaborate with the largest university in Tomsk. This is opening up interesting new horizons for us. We would also like to thank the university's team for their dedication and cooperation.