The granddaddy of the Moscow Theatre world is the Maly (small) Theatre, whose main premises is on Teatralnaya ploshchad adjacent to the famous Bolshoi (big) Theatre. The history of the theatre dates all the way back to 1756 when the company was founded during Catherine the Great’s reign. During the 19th Century the theatre became a favourite with some of the country’s most noted playwrights, in particular Ostrovsky who premiered 40 of his 52 plays here leading the theatre to be nicknamed ‘the house of Ostrovsky’.
If you are looking to enjoy classical Russian theatre from the likes of Chekhov, Pushkin, Ostrovsky and Gogol the Maly is probably one of the best choices. The fact that there is a slavish attention to tradition and classical production means that (with a little prior knowledge of the general plot) intermediate students of Russian as well as more fluent non-natives can follow the action quite well without the help of subtitles.