Alexandrinsky Theatre

This guide to the Alexandrinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg centers on the disastrous October 1896 premiere of Chekhov's The Seagull, staged as a benefit for a beloved comic actress whose fans came expecting laughs and instead got silence and heartbreak. It follows the young actress playing Nina, thrown into the role only five days earlier, as the jeering crowd's boos drowned out the applause. Best heard while standing before the theatre's Empire-style facade, raised by Carlo Rossi in 1832.