South Kazakhstan Regional Russian Drama Theatre is located in Shymkent, in Al-Farabi square. The theatre is well known in Kazakhstan with original and talented performances, and with history, as soon as it is one of the first opened theatres in Kazakhstan.
The first theatrical season in Shymkent was opened on 1 November 1929. Office of entertainment enterprises of Syrdarya district accepted to ensure the spiritual needs of people of South Kazakhstan through initiation to the theatre art. The following topics were chosen to display modernity: revolutionary history of movement, the struggle class in the East, and everyday life of the Red Army and the Navy, construction of a new life, struggle against philistinism, classical pieces. Artistic director and chief director of the theatre was M. Razdolin, and administer was of V.Sibirin.
During the Great Patriotic War Shymkent met evacuees from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Population was raised sharply. Therefore, the resolution "Establishment of the regional Russian drama theatre" adopted on 8 May 1944. The theatre’s troupe was divided, and on basis of it created separate Kazakh National Theatre. However, decision was officially formalized only on 15 November 1967 by order of the Shymkent Regional Department of Culture.
Management of Russian and Kazakh theatres was held by director Bereshchuk and artistic director Nasonova. The theatre was moved to Uralsk in 1949, but it soon returned to Shymkent as theater of musical comedy.
The second birth of the theatre was in 1958, when the student of the small Theatre of N.Medvedev formed a Shymkent troupe from graduates of Moscow and Leningrad Theatre universities.
The decision for approving a project for the construction was on 17 September of the same year. Construction was started on March 1965, and it was completed on October 1967 year.
In the early 2000s, the building was renovated, and modern architectural elements were added due to the appearance of building got a new life.
The theatre survived good and bad days, crisis and stagnation periods. Senior directors determined popularity of the theatre. It was in peak in the years of directors as: K. Medvedev, V.Vanchenko, I.Dubrovsky, P. Dogmarov, A. Belinsky, Yu.Knizhnikov, S. Abdiev, A. Melnikov and I.Verbitsky.
Honored Artists of Kazakhstan V. Lomakin, I. Bolotov, O. Kobzev, A. Pashenco and others worked in troupe at different times.
Today, the repertoire of the South Kazakhstan regional Russian drama theatre has 26 performances for adults and 20 performances for young audiences. The staff of the theatre is actively working to expand the repertoire and on staging new plays. Recently, attention is taken by formulation of Russian works by Kazakh playwrights.
Performance "Kokserek" by M.Auezov has been going on for several seasons and it is on relevance. This performance entered to golden fund of the South-Kazakhstan theatre.
The 81st season was completed by the premiere of "Anelia loves the King", which was based on the book of Kairat Saparbaev. The opening of the theatre season started with the premiere of the play "A Poem of Love" in 2013, which based on the immortal "Kozy-Korpesh and Bayan-Sulu" lyric-epic poem. Theatre’s troupe continues work on the Kazakh classics in the near future.