From May 23 to June 1, 2025, the Anton Chekhov Museum-Reserve “Melikhovo” will host the Melikhovo Spring International Theater Festival for the 25th time. It is the oldest theater presentation in Russia. This event features performances based on works by Chekhov or plays about Chekhov.  The poster of the anniversary festival is composed of more than 20 stage plays from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and China.

The Melikhovo Spring Festival has been held annually since 2000 by the Anton Chekhov Museum-Reserve “Melikhovo” with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Moscow Region. Professional theaters and on-stage performance groups from Russia and other countries are invited to join it with their productions based on the works by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov or about Chekhov himself.

The festival also has its traditional special program named "Chekhov+", which presents productions based on the works of one more author. The 2025 Festival will comprise performances based on the works by William Shakespeare.

This year we have 142 applications from theaters from 18 countries. They were submitted for participation in the XXV International Melikhovo Spring Theater Festival from September to December 2024.

The final poster, formulated by the Expert Council of the Festival, features performances by theater companies from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Ufa, Ulan-Ude, Tambov, Penza, Tver and Oryol. Theaters from Mogilev (Republic of Belarus), Shymkent (Republic of Kazakhstan) and Sichuan (People's Republic of China) will make up the international part of the program.

The Festival poster of the anniversary "Melikhovo Spring" includes more than 30 events, in total. In addition to theatrical performances, there will be the so called meet sessions with directors and artists Vladimir Khotinenko, Sergei Ursulyak, Anton Yakovlev, Anton Shagin, Igor Gordin, and Olga Khokhlova.

There also will be a separate special program at the Festival — Nikita Mikhalkov Academy of Cinematographic and Theatrical Arts will bring a play based on works by Chekhov and a documentary filmed for the writer's 165th birthday.

Vasily Kuznetsov, Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Moscow Region commented the Festival this way:

25 years is an impressive life time for the Festival. And the Festival poster of the twenty-fifth "Spring in Melikhovo" will be well-matched. See for yourself: More than 20 performances presented by theaters from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and China, meet sessions, and a special program produced by the Nikita Mikhalkov Film Academy. The Organizing Committee of the Festival received more than 140 applications from theaters from all over the world. I am sure that the anniversary of the long-standing theater festival near Moscow, which takes place in the year of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov's 165th birthday, will become an impressive cultural event, and I have a pleasure to invite the theater-goers to visit the Melikhovo Museum Reserve!

There also will be another special event this spring. It is dedicated to the Melikhovo School of Young Theater Critics. This initiative is timed to the Festival this year through the Melikhovo Museum Reserve, and it is supported by the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives. At the end of May, its in-person meeting phase will take place when two dozen theater critics and bloggers from all over Russia, will master their skills throughout the Festival days under the guidance of experienced mentors. 

The year of 2025 is rich in significant dates. It is also marked by the anniversary of the famous play "The Seagull", written by Anton Chekhov 130 years ago here in Melikhovo. On May 23, “The Seagull” of the Academic Maly Drama Theatre — Theatre of Europe, directed by Lev Dodin, will have the honor to open the Festival. In total, there will be four stage versions of "The Seagull"  presented at the Festival.

For your information: the Festival's performances will be presented at several venues: on the open air roofed stage for 400 seats in the middle of Anton Chekhov's Melikhovo estate grounds, in the Theater Courtyard and on the stage of the Serpukhov Musical and Drama Theater.