Mansion of Countess Sofia Panina

In the spring of 1903 Countess Panina arranged her Mansion into an unusual institution - the People's House for workers and their families. the main advantage of this building was the theater hall, one of the best in the city. The ensemble of their two buildings, in which the Imperial Technical Society, the Movable Museum, the reading room, the observatory, the concert hall were located, was created by the architect Yu. J. Benois. Here, the "Public Theater" was formed, with its permanent troupe. However, in 1905, on the basis of the "Public", the "First Mobile Theater" was created. Permanent leaders and leading actors were its creators, P.P. Gaydeburov and NF Skarsky (sister of VF Komissarzhevskaya). For a long time the theater niche of the Ligovsky People's House was empty. For more than 80 years in this building (now the Palace of Culture of Railwaymen) there were many teams, both amateur and professional. But none of them was able to become that, in truth, a creative person, which was in its time "The First Public Theater". And so, in 2010, within the framework of the revival of the cultural traditions of the Ligovsky People's House, it was decided to create a professional drama theater in the palace, which, like its eminent predecessor, would carry the main goal "to transform life by the power of spiritual art" on modern realities. And in honor of the founder of the People's House, the theater was named after S.V. Panina, so undeservedly forgotten in our time. The official opening of the theater took place on March 5, 2010.