A SMALL RESTAURANT

On November 18, 1881 the Paris artist Rudolph Salis opened his first cabaret business in Montmartre, the Chat Noir. And although in the translation from French the word cabaret means nothing more than a little pub, Montmartre witnessed the birth of a new artistic phenomenon that uniquely combined free musical, plastic and dramatic improvisations, and was always cozy and friendly. All of Paris bohemia – artists, actors and writers – became regulars of the Chat Noir. During the early 20th century cabarets spread throughout Europe: to Berlin, Copenhagen, Budapest, Moscow and Petersburg. Often cabarets were born and existed alongside well-known light theaters, for example, the Lukomorje at the Crooked Mirror Theater. At the beginning of the century at least twenty such theaters were open there in St. Petersburg. Even the history of the building housing the Maly Drama Theater is connected with the appearance in 1911 of the Troitsky Miniature Theater. Troitsky was the name of the street, later renamed in 1929 in honor of Russian composer Anton Rubinstein. The founder and first director of the theater was A. Fokin, brother of the great choreographer, who was a merchant and owned a bicycle and automobile shop. The artistic directors and stage directors at the Troitsky Miniature Theater changed frequently, but one-act comedies, stories, clown shows and sketches were always in the repertoire. The theater was not afraid to list in one playbill a work by Chekhov, ballet acts and contemporary satire, and invited well-known writers and poets to cooperation. The building on Troitskaya street changed names and owners, and didn’t have a regular Company. This was the home of the Baba Yaga movie theater, the Leningrad Satire Theater, The Crooked Mirror Theatre, the Stage Arts High School, the Young Theater run by S. Radlov, and the Troitsky Musical Theater. Times changed, as did theaters, but the books, music, paintings, photographs and memories of the past remain.