Published on: 2026-10-17
Source: Moscow Government – Правительства Москвы –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
If you want to watch classic theater near your home, it’s easy to arrange because many districts of Moscow have theaters with a long history and extensive repertoire. Among them is the Moscow Drama Theatre “Benefis,” whose intimate space is located in a cozy courtyard near the Novye Cheryomushki metro station. The troupe’s goal is to make the evening joyful, not to create a sensation or prove their uniqueness. And this is a true gem for those who dream of human warmth, lightness, and pleasant emotions. Each production creates the feeling that the audience has come to visit good friends or loved ones who have been eagerly waiting for them. Strolling leisurely up the stairs is an 18-year-old cat named Basya—she stretches out at the feet of passing theater staff, and immediately you get the sense that you are exactly where you belong and have nowhere else to hurry to.
The long-standing artistic director of the theater and its founder is Anna Nerovnya, a graduate of the Moscow Art Theatre School-Studio, from Pavel Massalsky’s workshop, where many theater and film actors studied, including Yevgeny Yevstigneyev, Vladimir Vysotsky, Tatyana Doronina, Mikhail Kozakov, and Oleg Basilashvili. For 38 years she has led “Benefis.” The tradition, based on Konstantin Stanislavsky’s school, became the foundation of the chamber theater, where precise directing combines with the grotesqueness of costumes, subtle humor, and bold musical compositions.
We tell you which plays can be seen on the theater stage “Benefit performance”.
Ruffled Dresses, Crystal, and a Comedy about Philistines
The theater’s hallmark is the two-part play “Matchmaking in Moscow” based on Alexander Ostrovsky’s comedy “The Marriage of Balzaminov.” It has been running for 26 years and still retains its elegance.
The play conveys the surrealism that Ostrovsky infused into the script, his irony: Parisian scents, frills, saucers. I read that he didn’t even have to invent the story: he just slightly embellished the truth he observed. I used to play a lot of dramatic, tragic, serious roles, and now I realize what a joy it is to perform in a comedy. As an actress, I constantly had to delve within myself, gnaw at myself to live through that state and convey it on stage. But comedy is a different matter. Alina Makarova actress, has been serving at “Benefis” for 26 years
The performance is divided into two parts for a reason: “Matchmaking in Moscow Style. The First” and “Matchmaking in Moscow Style. The Second”. The first part ends with a spectacular hook that compels the viewer to definitely come back to watch the next “episode.” Each performance is unique: the actors not only play their roles but also bring a new resonance to the production.
The living structure of the play is preserved because we constantly rehearse it. Sometimes, actors bring a new, fresh feeling to their character, some interesting, unexpected perspective — and the whole story is enriched by it. Anna Nerovnaya artistic director of the Benefis Theater
Actor Samad Mansurov has also been serving in the theater for 26 years and has played dozens of roles during this time. But he remembers “Matchmaking in Moscow” with particular warmth: he was involved in it for exactly 25 years, and every time he performed as if it were the first. At the same time, he notes: “It is very rare for an actor to have freedom in the theater. Anna Mikhailovna gives us that: not just to perform some specific actions—go there, say this—but to live the role, to express yourself as you feel. Sometimes it is a real improvisation. So now, as an experienced actor who also teaches students at VGIK, which I once graduated from, I can definitely say: it is a great happiness to understand your character, to develop and reflect on the role, adding to it every time.”
The plot of the play reflects a cross-section of Moscow life in the second half of the 19th century, when serfdom had not yet been abolished, and the life of landowners resembled an endless resort. The main character is Mikhailo Balzaminov, a minor official who is ill-adapted to life. He is kind, dreamy, and childishly naive, dreams of a beautiful life, and believes that marriage will solve all his problems—he just needs to choose the right bride. His mother Pavla Petrovna and matchmaker Akulina Gavrilovna Krasavina actively help him in this. Balzaminov courts Raisa Pezhenova, a young woman from a wealthy family, who reciprocates his feelings but only out of boredom. However, the girl’s family does not approve of this union and advises their daughter not to make a hasty decision. The wedding is about to take place, but then a more suitable groom appears…
Ostrovsky wrote a trilogy: the plays “A Holiday Nap Before Lunch,” “One’s Own Dogs Are Fighting, Don’t Interfere,” and the concluding “The Marriage of Balzaminov.” The playwright created his hero so vivid and recognizable that the story seems it will never lose its relevance. The play is staged often — it has long become a comedic collective image of the era.
The music in the play “Matchmaking in Moscow” is almost one of the main characters. It sounds in songs that reveal the true goals, desires, and feelings of the characters, skillfully conveying human nature. Outstanding composers Yuli Kim and Gennady Gladkov worked on the musical arrangement of the production. People’s Artist of Russia Gennady Gladkov is the author of music for such popular films as “Gentlemen of Fortune,” “An Ordinary Miracle,” “At a Busy Place,” as well as for the cartoons “The Bremen Town Musicians,” “Kid and Carlson,” and many others. Yuli Kim became famous for compositions for the films “The Twelve Chairs,” “The Man from the Boulevard des Capucines,” and “Formula of Love.”
Tickets for first and second parts of “Matchmaking Moscow-style” can be purchased using the “Mosbilet” service.
On the elusiveness of the future
Another iconic production of the theater is “Three Sisters,” based on the play of the same name by Anton Chekhov. The works of the great playwright have firmly entered the theater’s repertoire: many performances based on his works are staged here. Among them is the production “I had a dream” inspired by “The Lady with the Dog” and “The Seagull,” “Uncle Vanya” and “Chekhoviana,” created by Anna Nerovna for the 160th anniversary of the writer’s birth.
“Usually I am not interested in the entire play: sometimes individual plot lines and details even get in the way, because I focus on the main story. I am fascinated by the phenomenon of sleep and dreams: it also intrigued Anton Pavlovich. Therefore, we interpret separate Chekhov plays, combining them. The first ‘dream’ is ‘The Lady with the Dog’ and ‘The Seagull’, the second — ‘Uncle Vanya’, the third — ‘Three Sisters’. The fourth part is ‘Playing by the Rules and Without’ based on Chekhov’s ‘The Bride’. In my opinion, including additional material enriches the performance. I am curious to explore how the human subconscious is structured: what drives a person, how their perception of the world changes, and why they sometimes act unexpectedly. Our inner psychological makeup remains largely unexplored territory, and I am attracted to authors who strive to understand it. That is precisely why I have worked with Chekhov for so long and deeply,” says Anna Nerovnya.
The history of the creation of “Three Sisters” is closely connected with the name of Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko: it was his request that served as the impetus for the work on the play. After the triumphant success of “Uncle Vanya” on the stage of the recently opened Moscow Art Theatre, the director suggested to Chekhov to write a new work specifically for the troupe. The writer replied that he already had a developing plot. The basis of the concept was Chekhov’s personal observations, with one source of inspiration being his memories of Voskresensk (now Istra), where he spent summers in his youth with his family.
In the production by the Benefis theater, the role of Chebutykin, a 60-year-old retired doctor of an artillery brigade, is played by Samad Mansurov.
Earlier, I was often cast in roles where the characters were a decade older or younger than me. In this play, it turned out differently. I caught myself thinking that the despair Chebutykin feels, that burden of the years lived, is in its own way close to me. Once you were young and full of strength, but now everything has changed, and sometimes it seems that the journey has come to an end. I try to gather and convey all these inner emotions on stage. Samad Mansurov actor
Tickets for “Three Sisters” can be purchased through the service “Mosbilet”.
A truly public comedy
A new play in the theater’s repertoire is “The Marriage” based on the play of the same name by Nikolai Gogol. The author created a truly social comedy: the plot is built not on a love intrigue, but on a satirical depiction of morals. In “The Marriage,” Gogol breaks the traditional perception of melodramatic comedy, where the finale involves the happy reunion of lovers. Here, everything is different: the groom, so concerned about the marriage taking place, eventually runs away from the wedding.
The permanent costume designer of the Benefis Theater, Vadim Andreev, created images that perfectly emphasize the characters’ personalities. Long dresses with corsets and voluminous ruffles on the sleeves, men’s three-piece suits, once again bows and frills — how could it be without them?
Tickets for “The Marriage” can be purchased through the service “Mosbilet”.
Breaking stereotypes
The theater itself also organically fits into the setting of Gogol’s and Ostrovsky’s comedies: a long staircase to the second floor, a hall with photographs, and the space of the auditorium and stage. You can enter this elongated hall through tall double doors — the actors enter through them as well. And it is also a real transformer. For example, in the play “Matchmaking in Moscow,” the stage is in the middle, and the audience seats are arranged around the four walls. In other productions that use a screen, the stage is created on one side, and the rows of the auditorium fill the remaining space. There are many opportunities for creative exploration here — the building, which was not originally intended for a theater, has truly become one.
“Our theater was born on the wave of the theatrical movements of the 1990s. At first, we presented our performances at festivals — we always had a professional troupe. At the international theater festival “Games in Lefortovo — 87,” our “Wonderful Woman” won the Grand Prix. We were included in the program of the Main Directorate of Culture of the Moscow Council executive committee to create permanent theater studios in various districts of the capital. And when the Cheremushki District Komsomol committee called, they offered us several buildings to choose from. We chose this one — and to this day, our theater “Benefis” is here,” recalls Anna Nerovnaya.
The “Benefis” Theater has nurtured more than one generation of actors who sincerely love it: for them, it is a second home. Currently, several generations can be seen on stage — very young performers, recent university graduates, and recognized masters. For Alina Makarova and Samad Mansurov, the theater became practically their first workplace after graduating from the theater institute. Here they acted in their first performances, won the audience’s favor, and honed their acting skills to now serve as examples for young artists.
“In a word, we have a chamber theater. And this shortens the distance with the audience and allows us to establish an intimate dialogue with them. When I perform on stage, I pay attention to everything, and this is, of course, a difficult task: not to get distracted by those sitting very close. But it is incredibly interesting and requires maximum involvement — I call it ‘drainage.’ It is precisely for this supertask that I love our theater. Having come here almost immediately after university, I found a place from which I don’t want to leave,” emphasizes Alina Makarova.
Find out about performances, concerts, exhibitions, and other interesting events on the official “Mosbilet” channels in messengers “Max” and “Telegram”.
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