The Lensovet Theatre (Teatr imeni Lensoveta) on Vladimirsky Prospekt is a drama theatre in a former mansion where people once played roulette; today the interval is spent in a mirrored dining room and an oak-panelled fireplace foyer. Igor Vladimirov and Alisa Freindlich worked here, Mikhail Boyarsky and Konstantin Khabensky played here early in their careers, and a seat on the Main Stage in November can be found from 500 roubles. For a visitor it is an easy theatre to reach: three metro stations are close by.
Here is what the stages are, how to buy on the official website, what to pick from the November programme and how to combine the evening with Vladimirskaya Square. We checked the theatre's website, its rules and Yandex Afisha prices on 19 October 2026.
🏛 The Korsakov mansion: staircase, foyers and a former ballroom
The house at 12 Vladimirsky Prospekt is listed as a monument under the name Korsakov House. From 1831 the architect Andrei Mikhailov (known as Mikhailov II) rebuilt an old two-storey house into a large late-Neoclassical mansion for the heiress Sofya Korsakova and her husband, Prince Vasily Golitsyn. The prince spent his wife's fortune on balls, and in 1860 the house was bought by the Russian Merchants' Club. According to legends the theatre itself retells, it was soon nicknamed the Vladimirsky Gambling House, and the neighbours who dropped in included Dostoevsky and Nekrasov.
A theatre foyer with the museum display: gilded stucco, showcases and actors' portraits — Photo: Florstein, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The theatre moved into the building in September 1945. The auditorium is the mansion's former ballroom; its décor, with a coffered ceiling of pale polished wood and a crystal chandelier, dates from the 1950s. The main staircase with the Golitsyn princes' coat of arms was restored in 2007, and the oak-panelled Fireplace Foyer holds the theatre's museum display. The mansion's winter garden has not survived: in its place is the Column Foyer, with vaults in a mock-Gothic style.
A coffered wooden ceiling with a crystal chandelier — Photo: Florstein, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
🎭 Stages and repertoire: what to choose first
There are three stages: the Main (Bolshaya), the Small (Malaya) and the Chamber (Kamernaya) Stage. The Main Stage has classics and large productions; the Small Stage has chamber plays, one-person shows and evenings with actors. In November 2026 the theatre's programme on the Main Stage includes:
- Gogol's "The Government Inspector" ("Revizor"), directed by Sergei Fedotov: 3 hours 20 minutes with an interval, twice a day on 4–7 November, at 13:00 and 18:00.
- "Romeo and Juliet" in Boris Pasternak's translation (10 November): 3 hours with an interval.
- Dostoevsky's "Demons" ("Besy", 14 November): 4 hours 20 minutes with two intervals, for those ready for a long night.
- Vampilov's "The Elder Son" ("Starshy syn", 12 and 24 November): 2 hours 30 minutes with an interval, the gentlest way in.
- "Theatre" after Somerset Maugham, the season's premiere directed by Maria Romanova (13 November).
The Column Foyer on the site of the mansion's winter garden: vaults, columns and chandeliers — Photo: Florstein, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Small Stage is good if you want to see the actors up close: Yasmina Reza's "God of Carnage" ("Bog rezni", 21 November, 1 hour 20 minutes, no interval), "Dovlatov" (28 November) and "Morphine" after Bulgakov (5 and 25 November). Separately, there is a 90-minute tour, "The Lensovet Theatre: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow", covering the staircase, the suite of foyers, the auditorium and backstage. The nearest date, 28 October, is already sold out; look for the next ones in the repertoire on the website.
🎟 How to buy a ticket and what it costs
The official website is lensov-theatre.spb.ru. Online tickets are sold by an authorised operator in a widget right on the site: click "Купить билет" (Buy ticket) in the programme, choose a seat and pay with a Russian bank card; cards issued abroad do not work in Russia, so foreign visitors should go to the box office. The e-ticket can be printed on A4 or shown on a phone.
- The box office is on the ground floor of the theatre, 12 Vladimirsky Prospekt: daily 11:00–20:00, lunch break 14:00–14:30. In the last 45 minutes before a performance it sells tickets only for that day's show.
- The ticket desk for phone and email orders is open daily 11:00–19:00.
- Prices on Yandex Afisha on 19 October: most November evenings on the Main Stage from 500–600 roubles; the 4 November matinée of "The Government Inspector" from 1,800. On the Small Stage, the remaining seats cost from 1,500 to 4,000 roubles depending on the night: the hall is small and cheap rows go first.
- If you simply change your mind, tickets cannot be returned less than three days before the show, except for children's matinées. E-tickets are refunded by whoever sold them.
