Large-scale theatrical exposition project "Legacy. Theatre. The Greats" to open at the National Centre RUSSIA

From 28 July to 11 October 2026, the National Centre RUSSIA in Moscow will host the exposition "Legacy. Theatre. The Greats", held under the motto "A Union of Happy People". The grand exposition project will explore the past, present and future of theatre in Russia and will serve as the central event marking the 150th anniversary of the Union of Theatre Workers of the Russian Federation. The project is being implemented with the support of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives.

Comprising 17 thematic sections and filled with items from the world behind the theatrical scenes, the display will reveal the secrets of theatrical professions to the widest possible audience — from actors and directors to the specialists working in production workshops. Its aim is to present the theatrical process in all its complexity, showing a performance as a unified whole made up of many interconnected elements, and the people behind it as a harmonious ensemble.

The exposition will feature more than 600 exhibits, including set pieces and stage machinery, lighting and sound effects, costume and set designs, costumes and masks, accessories, props and puppets. Among the unique artefacts on display will be the compère Eduard Aplombov from "An Extraordinary Concert", the miniature inhabitants of the Lillikan Kingdom, a theatre backdrop painted by Valery Levental for the ballet "Don Quixote", and costumes designed by Nadezhda Lamanova and Vyacheslav Zaitsev.

The display will also include national costumes from different regions of Russia, books published in the eighteenth century, handwritten historical scripts, and rare archival materials such as audio and video recordings, theatre posters, photographs and letters. These items will illustrate the lives and creative journeys of outstanding theatre figures, including celebrated theatrical partnerships such as Konstantin Stanislavski and Maria Lilina, and Anton Chekhov and Olga Knipper-Chekhova.

The history of the Union of Theatre Workers, which has united the professional community for a century and a half, will be represented at the exposition through the image of an arrow-shaped locomotive symbolically moving towards the future.

The project's geography stretches from Moscow and St Petersburg to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and from Kudymkar to Cherkessk. More than 60 theatre companies have contributed exhibits to the display, including the Bolshoi Theatre, Mariinsky Theatre and Alexandrinsky Theatre, the Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre, the Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre, the Obraztsov Central Puppet Theatre, the Kamal Tatar State Academic Theatre in Kazan, and the Shketan Mari National Drama Theatre in Yoshkar-Ola.

The project's key partners include the Russian State Historical Archive, the St Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music Art, the Moscow Art Theatre Museum, and the A. A. Bakhrushin Theatre Museum.

The exposition will be accompanied by an extensive cultural and educational programme featuring creative meetings, thematic lectures and masterclasses in theatrical make-up, stage speech, movement, puppet-making, wig and accessory design, and the creation of stage footwear and costumes.