On April 10, the Bakhrushin State Central Theater Museum opens the exhibition “Theater on the Front: The Shore of Hope” at the Russian House in Brussels. The exhibition is based on unique archival materials from the BTM collections. The project is dedicated to the selfless feat of Soviet theater figures during the Great Patriotic War.
The opening is on April 10.
The exhibition “Theater on the Front: The Shore of Hope” will run at the Russian House in Brussels from April 11 to May 4, 2025.
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“On the early Sunday morning of June 22, 1941, the war, which began suddenly, changed the country’s usual way of life for four long years. Victory was forged on the front lines and in the rear. During this terrible time of hardship, the theater provided a saving hope, gave spiritual strength, and inspired heroic deeds. And that is why, during the war, theatrical life in the country did not stop for a single day,” said Kristina Trubinova, Director General of the Bakhrushin State Central Theater Museum.
The tradition of holding exhibitions dedicated to front-line theaters began in 1942, when the museum staff organized the exhibition “Theater on the Front” under the extreme conditions of wartime. Since then, exhibitions were held every year until the end of the Great Patriotic War. To this day, the Bakhrushin Museum maintains this good tradition, passing it on to new generations.
The museum staff initiated the creation of the “Theater on the Front Diary” during the first days of the war, so an important part of the exhibition is dedicated to the front-line diaries of theatrical brigades, including the legendary “Iskra” brigade. The materials contain invaluable creative reports, travel chronicles, soldiers’ reviews, newspaper clippings, photographs, and drawings, as well as personal letters of thanks from soldiers to their beloved artists who brightened the days of the war, inspiring them for further feats.
Soldiers received with special joy and gratitude the brigades of artists, whose performances always became a true celebration. Ballet, opera, circus numbers, sketches, one-act plays, and jokes performed by the artists were highly popular at the front. The front-line theaters’ repertoire included not only classical works of Russian drama but was actively supplemented with new plays created during the war. Exhibition guests will see archival photographs of performances by front-line brigades and theaters collected from across the country.
“When I went to the front, to be honest, I thought there would be no place for artists there… It turned out I was wrong… We became a living link between the country and the army…” – memoirs of actor Igor Ilyinsky.
Among the volunteers who went to the front were many artists. At the exhibition, visitors can see a series of graphic works by artist Vasily Kovrigin, who captured the theatrical life on the front: Concert for Soldiers (1944), Performance on the Front (1943), Portrait of a Soldier in the Hospital (1942), Self-Portrait (1944).
A central theme of the exhibition is the collages, composed of digital copies of photographs and documents, dedicated to famous front-line actors and musicians. The actors who survived the war and later became nationally recognized were able to bring their battlefield experiences to the stage, which made their performances especially poignant, sincere, and filled with incredible strength of spirit.
“During the war, front-line brigades of artists visited the front 42 thousand times, and 3,685 brigades gave 1.35 million performances and concerts,” noted Kristina Trubinova, Director General of the Bakhrushin State Central Theater Museum.
The geography of the placement of evacuated theaters across the country was vast – from cities in the Volga region and the Urals to the Far East. Thanks to well-organized evacuation, the country’s great theatrical heritage was preserved. Artists often worked in hospitals, helping wounded soldiers overcome severe psychological trauma, and raised funds for the front.
Exhibition visitors will be able to see digital copies of theatrical sketches and posters for landmark wartime performances: Front (Maly Theater, 1942), Soldiers of Stalingrad (Maly Theater, 1944), operas Prince Igor (Bolshoi Theater, 1944) and Ivan Susanin (Bolshoi Theater, 1945). An important part of the exhibition is dedicated to the theaters for young audiences during the war years. During this difficult time, performances for children became a real gift. Among the exhibits are digital copies of sketches and posters for performances such as The Beautiful Alyonka (Astrakhan State Theater for Young Audiences, 1944), The Crystal Slipper (Moscow Regional Theater for Young Audiences, 1943), Gulliver in Lilliput (Grozny Regional Puppet Theater, 1944), and others.
A separate section of the exhibition is devoted to post-war performances that preserve the memory of the tragic years of national history. Posters and photographs of performances such as The Smoke of the Homeland (Leninsky Komsomol Theater, Moscow, 1963), The Sign of Trouble (Leningrad Drama and Comedy Theater, 1986), Forgive Me (State Finnish Drama Theater, Petrozavodsk, 1981), Tyerkin (Chekhov Center, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 2019), Eternally Alive (Leninsky Komsomol Young Audience Theater, Saratov, 1964), and others.
