Photo 1 Oscar to God	Photo 2 All about love	Photo 3 My wonderful Cinderella

Address: 14-b, Yaroslaviv Val Str.; 16 Yaroslaviv Val Str. (Little stage), Kiev
Phone: +38044 272-41-88, 278-45-88

The Kyiv academic workshop of dramatic art "Suzirya" –the first engagement theatre in Ukraine was created in 1989. From the moment of foundation, the theatre is headed by the people’s artist of Ukraine Oleksii Kuzhelnyi.

The best actors of Kyiv theatres – people’s and honoured artists of Ukraine, and also young actors perform on the stage of “Suzirya”. Among the stars of the Ukrainian theatre who play here are Nadiya Baturyna, Larysa Kadochnikova, Larysa Kadyrova, Lyudmyla Lymar, Rayisa Nyedashkovskaya, Stepan Oleksenko, Ada Rogovtseva, Bogdan and Ostap Stupka, Mykola Rushkovskyi. Both young and well-known stage directors are enlisted to staging. The repertoire consist of classic and modern plays on Russian and Ukrainian

Performances are being shown simultaneously on two stage grounds: on the basic, large stage which seats 80 spectators, and on the small stage, where there are 21 seats in the hall.

"Suzirya" repeatedly achieved success on the world theatrical festivals and foreign tours, introducing Ukrainian dramatic art on international festivals in Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Holland, Jordan, Egypt, USA, Italy, Yugoslavia, Greece, Austria, and Macedonia.

 Apartment of the theatre is located in very notable building. It is a former apartment house of Leonid Rodzyanko. The most eminent representative of this family is a famous political figure of the beginning of ХХ century, chairman of the Third and the Fourth State Dumas of the Russian Empire Mikhail Rodzyanko who was a cousin of this house’ proprietor. Impressive large houses numbered 14 and 16, luxuriously decorated in the Modern style, were built in 1908-1910. It was two apartment houses with 5 and 6 room apartments for rent. Both front access door and side door of the houses are decorated by almost identical portals with the monograms of its owner: “L.R.”

In the house № 14, built in 1908, there was admission room of Rodzyanko. A huge apartment on the left half of the third floor was decorated like true palace. The main stair and rooms even now are decorated by an artificial marble, modelling, painting, gilt, carving, and sculptures. Three fire-places, encrusted figured parquet, stylish metallic furniture, are still a part of the interiors. Rodzyanko’s apartment decoration is one of the very few rich mansions and apartments of pre-revolution era extant in Kyiv.

Leonid Rodzyanko was the army colonel, owner of a stud farm and patron of art. He organized an artistic salon in the house, where musicians, writers and actors played music, recited poetry and performed home-made plays.

 The apartments of the salon were luxuriously decorated in accordance with passion of the proprietor: painting depicting the stages from life of riding lovers on walls and ceiling, and above the fire-place in the first hall on a bas-relief there is a painting with owner of the house riding his pet Rocket, who got the Grand Prix on the London horse race. In the second hall on a fire-place bas-relief there is a portrait of Rodzyanko’s wife Aleksandra.

 By the way, walls covered with the playbills of 1908 were found out under wainscots in one of halls of the building during restoration. Attempts to take off all playbills didn’t achieve success - only one playbill and a fragment of another one were saved. Now the undamaged playbill decorates one of halls of the theatre, and the fragment is placed in living room of the small stage.

In 1914 Leonid Rodzyanko sold the apartment houses, and together with his wife and son left to America, taking away all capital. In America he succeeded to sink money and to become a millionaire in three years. Now one of descendants of Rodzyanko family, the grandchild of his younger sister, lives in the Yaroslaviv Val str 16. Buying an apartment in this house, she did not suppose that, in fact, she is the heiress of Rodzyanko’s houses.

 There were different institutions in this apartment after the revolution which partly preserved the interior, and from 1945 till 1988 here was the apartment of the choir "Dumka".

Photo 4 Asso and Piaf	Photo 5 Leonid Rodzyanko’s former apartment house	Photo 6 The fortuitous tango