The Mari National Drama Theatre named after Mayorov-Shketan From the history of the theatre 1919 - 2009

The beginning… The first Travelling Theatre of Mari was founded on the 1-st of November 1919 On the 29-th of November 1919 the play of Tynysh Osyp was performed on its stage. This day is the birthday of the theatre

Professional actors & actresses In 1927 the first Mari studio of music-drama art was opened in Krasnokokshaisk . 18 girls & boys who wanted to be actors were studying there for two years In October 1929 the Mari State Theatre began its work

They were the first… The first director was Ivan Timofeevich Belyaev (1891-1937) The first playwrights were A.Konakov, I.Borisov, V.Muhin, Mayorov- Shketan The first actors were A.Savinov, N.Smirnov, P.Toydemar, A.Strausova, etc.

The change of the names… On the 29-th of November 1948 the Mari State Theatre was named after the famous Mari playwright Maiorov-Shketan In March 1949 the theatre got the name of the Shketan Mari United Drama Theatre

A modern theatre… In April 2002 the Shketan Mari National Theatre was renamed to the Shketan Mari National Drama Theatre Nowadays the theatre is 90 years old. It takes part in festivals & competitions of different ranks. It is very successful & popular with audience 90 years old 90 years old