Arkady Smirnov

Walking the Streets of Moscow

On a stopover in Moscow, a young writer Volodya makes friends with Kolya, who is returning home from a hard night shift. Just as Kolya is about to take a rest, he is met by his old friend Sasha, who wants help getting a deferral from military service so that he can get married.

Badgers

Early 20th century. Two village boys, brothers Semyon and Pavel, work as servants for a Moscow merchant. They face harsh exploitation and hard labor. The brothers' paths diverge. Unable to endure the merchant's abuse, Pavel leaves for a factory, becomes a worker, and later a revolutionary. Semyon remains in service. In the post-revolutionary period, Semyon, having served at the front and returned to the village, joins the kulaks and brutally cracks down on representatives of the Soviet government, becoming the leader of a gang of "badgers" hiding in the forests. A Red Army detachment led by Pavel is sent to fight the bandits.

Smart Things

A magical tale about a poor musician who one day stumbled upon a wondrous market stall. An old man there was selling incredible items — a magic mirror, an invisibility cap, a self-setting tablecloth… Among these enchanted objects was a marvelous self-playing flute. The old man gave the poor young musician the flute and the magic mirror, on one condition: they had to be returned in a year. A greedy rich man also took a liking to these magical things and, through deceit and trickery, tried to steal them — even throwing the musician into a dungeon. But what the greedy man didn’t know was that clever, enchanted things only bring happiness to a kind heart — and no wisdom at all to a foolish one.

Thunderstorm

A television performance by the Maly Theatre based on the play by A.N. Ostrovsky.

Optimistic Tragedy

A female commissar is sent to the naval detachment, led by the anarchist Vozhak, on behalf of the Party Central Committee. She is tasked with subordinating the sailors to the cause of the revolution.

That's How It Will Be

Based on the play of the same name by K. Simonov, in the production of the State Academic Maly Theatre of the USSR. The events of September 1944 are described, when military engineer Saveliev arrives in Moscow for a few days. In his apartment, he finds new tenants—the Vorontsov family. A mutual love sparks between him and Olya…

The Macropoulos Method

Based on the eponymous play by K. Čapek, directed by the State Academic Maly Theatre of the USSR. The Macropoulos Method — an elixir of immortality, the possibility of which becomes a test of the characters' human integrity in the play.

Rasteryaeva Street

Lipa and Vera had been friends since childhood. Now, having finished their boarding school, each of them faces her own path in life. Tormented by poverty, Lipa is forced to marry the old, dull, and cruel Tolokonnikov. However, she cannot bear the tyranny of the cowardly official for long. Leaving her husband, she departs from Rasteryaeva Street. Vera's life turned out differently. Fleeing with a hussar, she spent several turbulent years, but, exhausted, she returned once again to Rasteryaeva Street. And nothing had changed there.

Ivan

Former front-line soldier Ivan Ivanovich Klimov, a responsive and obliging man, works as a carpenter in a collective farm. Forty years after the end of the war, he receives the well-deserved award. Ivan is proud and happy. However, he is deeply hurt by the fact that a former policeman, Grishka, still lives and prospers in the village.

Before Sundown

A staging of the play of the same name at the State Academic Maly Theater of the USSR.

Fourth Height

Real story of the young legendary actress of Soviet cinema Gulya Korolyova, who started acting in films at the age of four. In May 1942, having barely finished school, Gulya voluntarily went to the front and soon died heroically in a battle near Stalingrad.

Wolves and Sheep

Ostrovsky and the Maly Theatre tell us an age-old story, as old as the world itself, about how some people are destined to be simple and meek, like sheep, while others are predatory and dangerous, like wolves. However, sometimes even the most seasoned predator finds themselves in a bind...

Woe From Wit

Officers

Two friends are army officers, and the turbulent times throw them from the Civil War in the early 20s to the Soviet conflict in Finland, from China to the Urals.

Valentinov Street

The action takes place in the pre-revolutionary years and in the first days after the October Revolution. The main character, a female student, becomes an ally of a Bolshevik, who later dies on the front lines of the Civil War.