Novosibirsk Regional Puppet Theater

Brief information

The puppet theater occupies a building that began not as a theater, but as a municipal non-classical secondary school from the early 1910s. That is why the place is interesting not only for its stage: here you can see how an educational building was adapted for theatrical life without completely erasing its former function.

The theater itself appeared before its current address: in 1933 it was founded as a puppeteers’ studio at the Theater for Young Audiences, and it opened its first season in 1934. It moved to this site only in 1999, when a large extension with an auditorium had already been built behind the old part. Because of this, the theater reads as a combination of two histories: the pre-revolutionary school and the later theater wing.

What to notice right away

It is worth comparing two facade signals. On the Revolution Street side, the old facade still bears the inscription “Municipal Non-Classical Secondary School”: it directly shows the building’s former purpose. On the Lenin Street side, the theatrical function is marked by the decorative portal of the 1990s extension. These two details help explain why the theater does not have one obvious “age.”

Behind the former school is the extension with the auditorium. It did not merely add rooms, but connected the old building with the neighboring residential building at 20 Lenin Street. The theater ticket offices were placed in the basement level of that building. So it is useful to notice not only the individual building, but also the way the parts are linked: the school, the new hall, the portal, and the neighboring house together explain how the theater acquired its present address and layout.