Между нами!
независимые московские театральные сообщества и проекты
Telegram Channel: «Between Us!»
The media’s mission is to serve as a guide—a navigator for independent Moscow theaters that have established teams and produce performances but lack sufficient recognition.
We do not deny that the concept of the theaters we will be discussing does not rely on excessive promotion or popularity, but people in the arts always need and are interested in an audience—whether it’s familiar faces or new ones. The public seeks a disruption of patterns, new inspiration, and departures from conventions. Therefore, the channel’s purpose is not PR, but rather to introduce audiences and provide supplementary knowledge about independent theater communities.
CONCEPT
«Between Us!» is a Telegram channel that is the opposite of its name suggests. Instead of secrecy and exclusivity, it brings into the light those aspects that previously remained outside the public eye—independent theater spaces in Moscow. These venues already have teams, physical spaces, and productions, but they lack a sufficient audience. The idea is to bridge that gap: to find a space known only to a few hundred people, verify that performances are actually running there, provide a direct link and contact information, and honestly advise on whether it suits a specific audience or not. Every piece of content is structured like a guided navigation with an element of recommendation: the name, location, a description of the space and its current programming, an image or video, instructions on how to attend, as well as a brief overview of the theater’s concept and most of its performances. The target audience consists of those tired of large, mainstream theaters who want to feel the pulse of emerging artists; it also includes students of theatrical arts who wish to see how their peers apply their knowledge in practice, navigate a competitive acting environment and challenging market conditions, and discover venues for their own initiatives.
THEMATIC PLAN (for Six Months)
Post Structure!
For each theater community:
A navigational post + a post about the concept and creative spirit
Rhythm!
1 community = 1 week
> 2 posts per week (Tuesday + Friday)
Week 1 — Launch
2 posts: introductory post («what this is and why») + channel navigation (how posts and categories are organized)
Week 2 — Theatrical Community «Studio Ten»
2 posts: navigation + recommendations / concept
Week 3 — Theatrical Community «Cynics»
2 posts: navigation + recommendations / concept
Week 4 — Theatrical Community «Nazarov Workshop»
2 posts: navigation + recommendations / concept
Week 5 — Theatrical Community «OSA»
2 posts: navigation + recommendations / concept
Week 6 — the theater community «Community Stage»
> 2 posts: navigation + recommendations / conceptWeek 7 — the theater community «a39»
> 2 posts: navigation + recommendations / conceptWeek 8 — new community #7
> 2 posts: navigation + recommendations / concept(plus a mini-post: «Month Summary»)Week 9 — new community #8
> 2 posts: navigation + recommendations / conceptWeek 10 — new community #9
> 2 posts: navigation + recommendations / concept
After week 10, the plan expands: in addition to the standard pair of posts (navigation + recommendation), conversational and interview formats are added. These can be written interviews with actors and teams from the theaters previously mentioned—short (3–5 questions), unedited, and preserving their voice. Topics include: «why they left the state-run theaters, ” „how they found a venue, ” „how much an evening costs, ” and „what drives them crazy in the independent scene.“ Such posts will replace the recommendation or serve as an additional third post per week, depending on material readiness.
POTENTIAL QUESTIONS FOR ACTORS FROM THESE COMMUNITIES FOR AN INTERVIEW (more personal format) IN WRITING:
1. How are you feeling overall? Do you experience freedom or happiness?
2. Do you doubt anything, or if so, what do you usually doubt?
3. How do you view change, and how do you process it? Is there a specific way you deal with it, or is it always a completely new experience?
4. Do you give advice to others, and why? How do you accept advice yourself?
5. What do you often want to tell others or just one specific person, but don’t?
6. Is there a phrase you really wish you could say to someone, but to no one?
7. Can you describe how your character lives? What is their main purpose in existence? And how do you feel about them?
8. Have you ever had to pretend to be someone else—whether a fictional character or an existing person?
9. In the role of an actor, what do you allow yourself to do that you cannot allow in everyday life?
10. What is your favorite quote, or a passage of text, regardless of whether it is poetic or prose?
10 CONTENT EXAMPLES
CHANNEL OVERVIEW
Post 1. Introduction «Between Us!» — What is this?
In Moscow, there are theaters known only to a few hundred people. They have a team, a venue, and productions. There is no audience.
This channel makes them visible.
We do not write reviews or assign grades. We provide navigation: where it is → what it is → what is running → how to get there → who it is for, and who it is not.
It is right for you if: you are tired of huge halls and want to feel the actors' breath up close. It is not right for you if: you require quality guarantees and convenient purchasing on Yandex Afisha.
Next is a guide to the channel.
CHANNEL NAVIGATION
Post 2. Channel Navigation
How «Between Us!» WorksOne week = one theater.
Tuesday is the navigational post: address, current performance, and how to buy a ticket.
Friday is the recommendation: what the theater is, what makes it unique, and who should go.What’s next:
— Interviews with actors and crews (after Week 10).
— Updates: changes at the theaters already mentioned.
— «Contrast»: we showcase the «visible» independent theater next to the «invisible» one, so you can understand the difference.The main rule: if we cannot find a link or contact information—we state that honestly. We do not fabricate things.
POST — NAVIGATION
Post 3. Navigation Nazarovy Workshop
Where: Moscow, Dolgorukovskaya St., 5s1 (M. Mayakovskaya / Novoslobodskaya / Mendeleevskaya stations)
What’s Playing: «Ganmukhuri”—directed by Andrey Manik, based on Tamta Melashvili’s work and documentary footage of the Georgian–Abkhaz conflict. „Love Isn’t a Joke”—Polina Airapetova’s „pessimistic comedy“ based on Muse. Also showing: „Duck Hunt, ” „Oddballs, ” and „Turgenev. Mu-mu.“
How to Attend: Visit masterskayanazarovyh.ru; tickets are available on Yandex Afisha (starting from 1,500 ₽).
Who It’s For: Those who want to see a theater built „in spite of“ the odds and that remembers its masters. Who It’s Not For: Those looking for a large venue and a „polished“ evening.
POST — RECOMMENDATION
Nazarovs' Workshop: A Theater That Endures
Graduates of GITIS, from the workshop of Natalia and Gennady Nazarov, finished the final course with their mentors in 2025—both masters have since passed away. They decided not to disband. They opened a space on Dolgorukovskaya, bringing furniture and books from the masters' apartment.
The hall seats 50 people. The set designs were made by hand on a minimal budget. Their repertoire includes Vampilov, Muse, and Georgian documentary prose. The directors come from various workshops, but they all share the same «blood.»
The unique element here is that this is not a «project.» It is the continuation of the workshop after it officially concluded.
POST — NAVIGATION
Post 5. Navigation
OSAWhere: Moscow, Bryusov Hall on Ordynka (Bolshaya Ordynka, 43s1, Tret’yakovskaya / Polyanka Metro).What it is: An independent theater founded in 2023. The team consists of 11 people: director Vasily Dobrov (GITIS), actors from GITIS, ISI, VGIK, Shchepkinsky, and the Russian Theatre Academy. They have staged 5 productions, reaching about 1,000 audience members in total.How to attend: They have a Telegram channel. The official website, osatheater.tilda.ws, does not link to it. We found the channel manually. You can write to osa.teatr@mail.ru.Who it suits: those willing to take a risk and see something that hasn’t been polished yet.
Who it doesn’t suit: those who require convenient online ticket purchasing.
POST — RECOMMENDATION
OSA: A Theater That Begins with People
The OSA website states: «We emerged from an internal need—to perform, to search, to err, and to speak honestly with the audience.»
Look at the cast: a director from GITIS, actors from five different schools. These are people who could have dissolved into state theaters, but instead, they came together and have been performing in the Bryusov Hall since 2023—an intimate venue seating 110 in a historical estate with a retro interior.
In three years—five performances, about 1,000 audience members. That’s not much. But these are people who came to «create, not conform.»
The unique thing is: you aren’t attending a «product.» You are going into a room where people haven’t yet decided who they will become.
POST — NAVIGATION
Post 7. Navigation
CinicsWhere: Moscow, 3-y Syromyatnichesky Pereulok, 3/9s1 (Kurskaya metro station).What is showing: «Hamlet: The Casting”—a signature format: an 18+ male cast, you go behind the scenes to the audition, and you ultimately choose Hamlet yourself. 130 minutes with an intermission. Also showing: „Man from Podolsk, ” „Marusya vs. America, ” „Sonya and Rodya, ” and „A Clockwork Orange.“How to get tickets: cinics.ru website, Telegram @ciniki_theatr. Tickets are available on Yandex Afisha and Kassir.ru.Who it’s for: those who want to see classics that aren’t just „recited, ” but „lived“ by people your age.
Who it’s not for: those who cannot tolerate Shakespeare in a modern interpretation or the „casting“ format as a concept.
POST — RECOMMENDATION
Cynics: A Theater Where the Audience Makes a ChoiceThe mission of «Cynics» is summarized in five words: «What astonishing young artists there are!» — Andrey Dontsov.This is not irony; it is a program. In «Hamlet: Casting,» you don’t just watch—you choose who will play Hamlet in the end. «An overflowing level of trust from the audience; openly and honestly about Shakespeare and the profession.»The signature format includes the «male 18+ cast» and the «female» cast («4 Tanechki»). The name comes from Mariengof, but the logo is a dog (Diogenes). The aesthetic is cinematic quality combined with sincerity.The unique feature is that you aren’t going «to see a classical production.» You are entering a room where young actors perform as if it were their last time, and where you are asked for your opinion.
POST — NAVIGATION
Post 9. Navigation Studio Ten
Where: Moscow, Trekhgornaya Manufactory, the former boiler room of a weaving factory.
What it is: A production by 10 graduates of the MKhAT School-Studio in 2024 (Victor Ryzhakov’s workshop). The students write the texts and music, stage the production, perform, and paint the walls. «Ingosstrakh» helped secure the venue.
What’s on: «Tale of a Lost Land"—a socio-documentary exploration of Cossack identity directed by Alexander Chebotarev from Kuban. «Trud Krai"—fairy-tale characters in modern times. «Tipa Ya"—based on Islam Khanipayev.
How to attend: Telegram @ryzh24, website studioten.ru. Tickets available via the channel.
Who it’s for: Anyone who wants to see how ten people build a theater from the ground up. Who it’s not for: Those looking for a «turnkey evening.»
