The Bulgakov Museum Theater

The Bulgakov Museum Theater is the first museum in Moscow dedicated to the work of the outstanding writer M. A. Bulgakov. The Museum opened on May 15th, 2004 at 10 Bolshaya Sadovaya, on the ground floor of the very house where Mikhail Afanasevich Bulgakov first settled in Moscow. This is not just a museum – it is a multi-module space that combines a museum, a theater named after M.A. Bulgakov, and a cultural center dedicated to the life and work of the writer. Here visitors can take Bulgakov and Moscow tours, revealing both the secrets of Bulgakov’s works and the features of his era. The employees of the Museum have developed more than forty tours of various formats: pedestrian, by bus, theatrical, and on the authentic tram “302-BIS” running on a rubber track.

The scientific work is not forgotten either: the lecture hall of the research and methodological department operates under the supervision of Irina Yakovlevna Gorpenko-Myagkova, the widow and curator of the archives of the Bulgakov critic Boris Sergeevich Myagkov. For literary lovers, there are two literary salons: the literary salon of Andrei Korovin and the literary lounge of Lola Zvonareva. Creative evenings, poetry readings, book presentations, and meetings with writers are held on a weekly basis at the Bulgakov Museum. In 2011, a theater was opened in the Museum. There are not only performances based on the works of Mikhail Bulgakov in the repertoire, but also modern and classical productions of other authors.

As part of the theater’s work, the social project “Invisible Performances” arose and developed, which includes performances for blind and visually impaired children, which go on tour in boarding schools for children with vision problems throughout Russia. The project works on a charitable basis, and performances are shown to children and blind adults completely free of charge. The Bulgakov Museum Theater takes part in citywide events, such as “The Bible Night”, “The Night of the Arts”, “The Night at the Theater”, “Day and Night at the Museum”, “The Day of the Moscow Heritage”, and the City Day, and runs its own events on a city scale, such as the festival in honor of Mikhail Bulgakov’s birthday (May 15th), and the festival “Day of Fulfillment of Wishes”, which is held on the last Saturday of August. Events of Russian and international scale do not pass by. Theater performances were nominated and won at regional theater festivals. The Museum Theater takes part in all-Russian and international conferences, festivals, exhibitions, and forums. The three halls of the museum and the authentic buffet “302-BIS” represent the whole history of Bulgakov’s life and work, embodied in the atmosphere of both permanent and temporary exhibits. From the Kiev period to the formation of Bulgakov as a playwright, the museum reveals to visitors the possessions of the writer and his family, documents and photographs, illustrations, and bas-reliefs. The museum has a unique electronic exhibition, which presents more than 500 units of letters, documents, photographs about the life and work of M.A. Bulgakov, and excerpts from films and theatrical productions based on the works of the writer. But in this museum it is not customary to simply examine the exhibits with respect, as everyone can call the Bulgakov heroes on real phones from the beginning of the 20th century, see Berlioz’s head under the wheels of the tram, try to meet the real Cat Behemoth (which is, by the way, the museum’s employee), and drink a glass of tea in a “Bulgakov way” in the buffet “302-BIS”.