St Petersburg Puppet Theater 'Stray Dog' was founded on the 20th August 1990. The idea of ​​its creation belonged to the young artist Maria Prokofieva. The first artistic director was the famous children's writer and playwright Boris Kogan; the first director & ndash; Nadezhda Dergunova. The theater owes its unusual name to Valentina Grigorievna Khovraleva, Honored Art Worker of Russia, Professor, Head of the Department of Scenography and Puppet Theater Technology of the Russian State Institute for the Arts. “What could be more pleasant for a child than the word“ dog ”! A 'stray' & ndash; means running, walking and touring, finally. This is not just a name & ndash; this is a proper name, and it is remembered. This name carries the Petersburg flavor '', & ndash; later recalled Valentina Grigorievna. The creation and development of the theater took place in the 90s. For the country, it was a time of global changes, and for the theater & ndash; the period of formation and inevitable organizational, technical and financial difficulties, despite which the start of the `` Stray Dog '' was quite successful.

Maria Prokofieva invented dolls, designed and painted sets, and developed scenography. According to the recollections of the first employees of the theater, the scenery was thoughtful, bright, grotesque, unexpected both in color combinations and in design. Dolls were also unusual; they did not at all correspond to the standard ideas of those years about performances for children. The first production of the theater was a New Year's fairy tale, and she told about a stray dog. The children liked the play, saturated with good humor, and they watched it with pleasure. Meanwhile, first at the Stray Dog there was not even a stationary auditorium of its own; the performances were visiting. The first house theater was located on the street.

Rubinstein and was completely unsuitable for theatrical needs, but soon the theater was given the premises of the former regional party library at Prospect Stachek, 59 in the Kirovsky district of St. Petersburg. Already at the beginning of 1992, the St. Petersburg Puppet Theater `` Stray Dog '' established as a municipal, subordinate to the administration of the Kirovsky district. In 1998, the management changed at the theater. Vasily Deryagin & ndash; a well-known director in the theatrical circles of puppeteers, and the director of & ndash; Alla Bondar. In 2000, Alfiya Abdulina was appointed to the position of artistic director. The time has begun for confident and consistent development. 'Stray dog' acquired professionalism and fame, traveled almost all over Russia, visited many foreign countries. The theater has a successful tour, participation in major domestic and foreign festivals and successful performances. Masters Well-known theatrical figures collaborated with the theater: & ndash; choreographer & nbsp; Gali Abayulov & nbsp; (ballet dancer, theater and film actor, choreographer, choreographer, stage director, laureate of the State Prize of the RSFSR named after the Vasilyev brothers, laureate of the national theater prize `` Golden Mask ''); & ndash; director & nbsp; Nikolai Borovkov & nbsp; (Honored Art Worker of the Russian Federation, director of a puppet theater, writer, children's playwright, laureate of the Highest Theater Prize of St. Petersburg `` Golden Spotlight ''); & ndash; production designer & nbsp; Mark Bornshtein & nbsp; (member of the Union of Theater Workers of the Russian Federation, member of the Union of Artists of the Russian Federation, representative of the legendary `` Ural Zone '' & ndash; avant-garde direction in puppet theater, chief artist of the Magnitogorsk theater `` Buratino '' (1972-1987), chief artist St. Petersburg Interior Theater since 1988, laureate of the highest theatrical prize of St. Petersburg ``

For many years of unique contribution to the development of modern puppet theater ''); & ndash; choreographer Andrei Bosov (ballet dancer, choreographer, formerly - premier of the Mariinsky Theater); & ndash; director & nbsp; Boris Konstantinov & nbsp; (director, actor, teacher and playwright. Since 2013 & ndash; chief director of the S. Obraztsov State Theater Center, multiple laureate of the Russian national theater prize `` Golden Mask '' and the highest theatrical prize of St. Petersburg `` Golden soffit '', member of the jury of the `` Golden Mask '' award. Since 2016 & ndash; as part of the executive committee of the international union of puppeteers UNIMA, president of the UNIMA youth commission, honored art worker of the Russian Federation (2019)); & ndash; director & nbsp; Ruslan Kudashev & nbsp; (chief director of the Bolshoi Puppet Theater (since 2006), artistic director of the Potudan theater (from 2000 to 2006), participant and multiple winner of prestigious international festivals, winner of the Order of Merit Fatherland '' II degree, laureate of the highest national theater prize `` Golden Mask '', the highest St. Petersburg theater prize `` Golden Soffit '', the highest nthe national award in the field of theatrical art for children and adolescents `` Harlequin '', the creator of the International Festival of Puppet Theaters `` BTK-FEST: Theater of Contemporary Puppets ''); & ndash; director & nbsp; Jacques Matthissen & nbsp; (Denmark); & ndash; production designer Alevtina Torik (laureate of the national theatrical prize `` Golden Mask '', the highest theatrical prize of St. Petersburg `` Golden Soffit '', the highest national award in the field of theatrical art for children `` Harlequin '', winner in the nomination `` Best Artist's Work '' ; festival `` Golden Dolphin-2008 '', International festival of puppet theaters ``

Parsley the Great '' 2010, worked as an artist in the theater: Potudan and in the theater of puppets named after E.S.Demmeni); & ndash; production designer & nbsp; Yuri Kharikov & nbsp; (worked as chief artist at the Leningrad Puppet Theater, at the Oryol Drama Theater named after I. Turgenev, at the B. Yukhanov Individual Directing Workshop; three-time laureate of the Golden Mask National Theater Award, laureate of the K. S. Stanislavsky in the nomination `` For the best stage design in the project '', winner of the gold medal for the project of the Soviet exposition for the Prague Quadrennial `` 87, the national prize of film criticism and film press `` White Elephant '' and other awards. , A. Kuznetsov) of the St. Petersburg Little Ballet Theater (1991 & ndash; 1994). Was among the best scenographers in Russia);