Russian State Institute of Performing Arts

The academy is the oldest and largest institution of its kind in Russia. The college has been reorganised and renamed many times. Its present name dates from 1993, while before that it was named Leningrad State Institute of Theatre, Music and Cinema.

The largest institution of its kind in Russia, the academy now has approximately 950 full-time students with 200 faculty in four departments — Drama Department, Puppetry Department, Set Design and Stage Technology Department, and the Theatre Studies Department.

The Academy Theatre gives public performances by students of the academy throughout the education process — from 10 to 16 different productions a year, amounting to between 150-180 public performances. The best performances are moved to leading theatres of Saint Petersburg, such as the Alexandrinsky Theatre, the Lensovet Theatre, etc.

• Official website (in Russian) (in English)
• Information about the Academy in English
• Stanislavsky in Practice: Actor Training in Post-Soviet Russia by Vreneli Farber (New York: Peter Lang, 2008), ISBN 978-1-4331-0315-5

This book, focusing on the course of study pursued today by aspiring actors in Russia and on the philosophy that informs this curriculum, draws on extensive observation during the academic year 2000-2001 of the actor training program of the St. Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy and on interviews of a wide array of individuals (primarily faculty) in the Academy. The book is a good source of information on the Academy.