On 27 January, auditions for the recitation competition began. Thirty-five people passed to the second round. Young actors and senior students from leading theatre universities in Russia and abroad will compete in such a difficult type of performance art as "the art word".

Each competition has its own theme, so that in addition to Chekhov's stories, other classics of Russian literature can be heard on the competition stage.
This year's theme is "Chekhov and Ostrovsky".

The jury consisted of actors, teachers, masters of art words:

• Vladimir Pavlov, Honoured Artist of Russia, actor of the M.N. Yermolova Theatre;
• Alexei Gnilitsky, Honoured Art Worker of Moscow. Alexey Gnilitsky is an honorary artist of Moscow, an actor of the Moscow theatre "School of Modern Play";
• Elena Sokolova, theatre and cinema actress, leading actress of the Benefis theatre;
• Yury Golyshev, Chairman of the Jury, Honoured Artist of Russia, actor of the Melikhov Theatre "Chekhov Studio".

The recitation works will be evaluated according to certain criteria: choice of the work and its complexity, preservation of the author's style and internal intonation, mastery of the text and subtext, artistry, charm, acting personality, etc.

Competitive auditions will be held in Melikhov on 27-28 January, and the culmination will be a gala concert of laureates and winners with awarding, which will be held on 29 January at 15.00, the birthday of Anton Chekhov.

We wish success to all participants!