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The first troupe of the local theatre consisted mainly of serfs owned by the Kursk landowners. One of the serf actors was Mikhail Shchepkin, the future great Russian actor.
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«I was born on November 6, 1788 in Oboyan district of the Kursk province, in the village of Krasny located on the river Penka»
Mikhail Shchepkin came from a serf family. His father, Semyon Shchepkin, served the family of Cout Wolkenstein.
It was mid-November of 1805, when Mikhail Shchepkin made his debut in the Kursk theatre during the benefit performance of actress Pelageya Lykova.
Being a serf, Shchepkin played in the Kursk Theatre from 1805 to 1816.
After that he continued his acting career in the theatre troupes of Kharkov, Poltava and other cities of Russia and Ukraine.
The traditions of stage realism, pioneered by Shchepkin, played a crucial role in shaping the Russian drama theatre.
On September 20, 1822, for the first time, Shchepkin performed in Moscow. He played the role of Bogatonov in the comedy of Mikhail Zagoskin «Mr. Bogatonov or a Provincial in the Capital». On March 6, 1823, Shchepkin joined the troupe of the Moscow Theatre (later known as the Imperial Maly Theatre).
Shchepkin was not only an outstanding actor, but a talented educator. From 1832 to 1863 he taught at the theatre school at the Maly Theatre.
Shchepkin passed away on August 11, 1863 in Yalta, Taurida province of the Crimea and was buried at the Pyatnitsky Cemetery in Moscow.
«He was a great actor, an actor by vocation and by work. He created the truth on the Russian stage. He was the first to become non-theatrical at the theatre stage»
In 1895, for the first time ever in Russia, a monument to actor Mikhail Shchepkin was erected in the town of Sudzha, Kursk province, where Mikhail Shchepkin used to live and study. The monument opening ceremony was attended by the Maly Theatre artist delegation led by the outstanding actress Maria Yermolova.
In 1911, the Kursk City Theatre was named after Shchepkin (located in Khersonskaya St., now Dzerzhinsky St.). Currently, it is a city concert and a community center.
In 1927, the Theatre was moved to the House of Ilyich. Shchepkin's name disappeared from the playbills for good, but not from the memory of the theatre staff.
In 1938, the Higher Theatre School was named after Shchepkin.
«THE THEATRE IS A TEMPLE FOR AN ACTOR OR AN ACTRESS. IT IS THEIR SANCTUARY!
YOUR LIFE, YOUR HONOR, EVERYTHING IRREVOCABLY BELONGS TO THE STAGE YOU COMMITTED YOURSELF TO. YOUR FATE DEPENDS ON THIS STAGES. TREAT THIS TEMPLE WITH RESPECT AND MAKE OTHERS RESPECT IT. PERFORM DIVINE SERVICE OR GET OUT!»
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