The Baltic House (Baltiysky Dom) is a theatre-festival in Alexandrovsky Park, a short walk from Gorkovskaya metro and the Peter and Paul Fortress. Its Main Stage seats 873, more than the BDT's Main Stage, and the theatre publishes an official monthly price list in advance. The programme is varied, from the comedies "Pokrovsky Gates" and "Khanuma" to "Hamlet" and "The Idiot", so the main question here is less "how do I get in" than "what should I choose".
Below: the halls, what's on in November and what it costs, how to buy a ticket and how to fit the evening into a walk around the Petrograd Side. We checked the theatre's website, its rules and the official October–November price list on 19 October 2026.
🏛 A theatre in Alexandrovsky Park: 90 years old, with a festival since 1991
The theatre traces its history to 1936, when the Leningrad Lenin Komsomol Theatre, the "Lenkom", was founded. Georgy Tovstonogov began his Leningrad career here in 1949; in the 1970s Gennady Oporkov staged "Don't Part with Your Loved Ones" and "Duck Hunting", and the stage saw Yevgeny Lebedev, Tatiana Doronina, Oleg Basilashvili and Oleg Dal. This season the theatre celebrates its 90th anniversary.
The Baltic House portico with Corinthian columns and the boat emblem in the arch above the entrance — Photo: Ekaterina Borisova, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The word "festival" in the name is meant literally. The Baltic House International Theatre Festival was founded in 1991 and became the first annual international theatre festival of post-Soviet Russia; in 2008 it received a UNESCO prize. The company includes People's Artists of Russia Tatiana Piletskaya and Vadim Yakovlev.
🎭 Three halls: which show to see where
- The Main Stage (Bolshaya stsena): 873 seats and a stage 25 metres wide. This is where large productions and comedies play; for some shows the hall is reconfigured so the audience sits on the stage.
- The Small Stage (Malaya stsena): 122 seats, chamber productions.
- "Room 91" ("91 komnata"): 63 seats, the smallest hall.
The choice is simple. For a light evening in a handsome hall, go for a comedy on the Main Stage. To see the actors at arm's length, choose the Small Stage or Room 91, but note that latecomers are not admitted there at all. The same rule applies to Main Stage shows in the "audience on stage" format.
🎟 What's on in November 2026 and what it costs
The theatre posts an official monthly price list on its website. November prices:
- Main Stage comedies: "Pokrovsky Gates" ("Pokrovskie vorota", 1 November) and Edvard Radzinsky's "About Love" ("Pro lyubov", 4 November), 700 to 3,300 roubles; "The Dog in the Manger", "And No Buts!", "Khanuma" and "The Girls" ("Devchata"), 700 to 3,800.
- "The Red Snowball Tree" ("Kalina krasnaya") after Vasily Shukshin (2 November): 600 to 2,700 roubles.
- "Fiddler on the Roof" (14 November), "Family as a Gift" and "Not-Bad Guys": 700 to 5,300 roubles.
- "Hamlet" (5 and 30 November, starting at 18:00): 1,000 to 3,400 roubles. Dostoevsky's "The Idiot" (27 and 28 November): 525 to 5,300.
- Small Stage: "Ward No. 6", 1,400 to 2,600 roubles; "Rock'n'Roll at Sunset", 1,500 to 3,300; "Tanya", "Sister of Sorrow", "School" and others, 1,300 to 2,400.
The 10,000-rouble line in the price list is the "privilege ticket": a seat in the middle of the front row of the stalls, free parking at the theatre, a separate cloakroom, a café table with a glass of champagne and a programme signed by an actor. They are sold for some Main Stage comedies.
🎫 How to buy: website, box office and phone booking
The theatre warns about copycat websites: the only official site is baltic-house.ru. Besides it, the theatre names three ticket operators: bileter.ru, kassir.ru and ticketland.ru. You don't need to print an e-ticket, a phone screen is enough; the exception is organised groups of more than 5 people.
The box office is open 11:00–21:00 with a break 15:00–16:00. You can book by phone to the box office or by messenger via the administrator's number, then pay within 3–5 days, but no later than 3 days before the show. The box office takes cash or cards; since cards issued abroad do not work in Russia, cash at the box office is the easiest route for foreign visitors. In the hour before a show the box office mostly sells tickets for that performance.
🌳 Combining it with the Petrograd Side
The Baltic House stands in Alexandrovsky Park, and the metro station is Gorkovskaya. Across the Kronverksky Strait is the Peter and Paul Fortress, so a theatre evening pairs well with a daytime walk there; what is open in autumn and what tickets cost is covered in our guide to the Peter and Paul Fortress.
The Peter and Paul Fortress from the Neva: the cathedral spire, bastions and the beach below the walls — Photo: Aleksey Reshetnikov, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
At the end of October the sun sets around 17:25, and most shows start at 19:00. So see the fortress and the embankment before dusk and keep the last hour and a half for the park and dinner. The theatre suggests arriving 30 minutes early to hand in your coat, buy a programme, look into the Exhibition and Actors' foyers and have a coffee at the buffet.
Alexandrovsky Park in October: trees in yellow leaf, a bench and an alley — Photo: Ninara, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
🧭 What to keep in mind
- There are metal-detector frames and bag checks at the entrance. Coats, hats and umbrellas go to the cloakroom, backpacks and bags to the left-luggage room. Flash photography is forbidden.
- The auditorium opens at the first bell. After the third bell, Main Stage latecomers take a seat offered by an usher and move to their own at the interval.
- There is no strict dress code, but the theatre itself asks people not to come in tracksuits or shorts.
- Age ratings are in the programme: most evening shows are 12+ or 16+, "Lerka" is 18+. With children, go to the 12:00 morning shows.
- Who it won't suit: anyone who doesn't understand Russian, as performances are in Russian; and anyone after experimental directing of the BDT kind, since there are more crowd-pleasing comedies here. Compare with our guides to the BDT and the Lensovet Theatre.
📌 In short
✅ The Baltic House is at 4 Alexandrovsky Park, by Gorkovskaya metro, next to the Peter and Paul Fortress.
✅ Three halls: the Main Stage with 873 seats, the Small Stage with 122 and Room 91 with 63.
✅ November 2026 prices are in the official price list: Main Stage from 600–700 to 3,300–5,300 roubles, Small Stage from 1,300 to 3,300.
✅ There is one official website, baltic-house.ru, plus bileter.ru, kassir.ru and ticketland.ru. The box office is open 11:00–21:00 and takes cash.
✅ Most shows start at 19:00. Come 30 minutes early for security checks, the cloakroom and left luggage.
Checked on 19 October 2026 against the official website of the Baltic House Theatre-Festival (programme, October–November 2026 price list, visitor rules, ticket operator information, technical data on the halls, contacts).
Cover photo: GAlexandrova, Викисклад, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1622._Санкт-Петербург._Театр_Балтийский_дом.jpg)
