The Amateur Chamber "Basement" Theatre was founded at the School of Foreign Languages of the Karelian State Pedagogical University in 2001. It presents performances both in English and Russian, in which the teachers and students participate together. The first productions, released in April, 2001 were Where Love Betrays…(Îphelia) - poetic performance based on the scenes from W. Shakespeare's tragedy "Hamlet" and verses by Russian and foreign poets, and Scenes from W. Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night in English.

In December 2001 the Theatre produced The Importance of Being Earnest by O.Wilde (in English), its first "full-size" performance and a milestone in artistic developmentn. In April 2002 ãîä two new productions were presented. They were Vagantskaya Vol'nitsa (Students' Liberties) - poetic performance based on the verses of the medieval Latin poetry and Pygmalion - "phonectic comedy" based on G.B. Shaw's play (in English).

The end of the 2002 brought two new productions. The first one is Metaphysical Dialogues (based on V.Pelevin's short story "Zatvornik and Schestipalyi"), is a modern parable, staged in a non-conventional, grotesque manner. The second one is The Wiard of Oz (after the book by L. Frank Baum), the theatre's interpretation of the classic fairy-tale, which is presented in "synthetical" style, making wide use of light and sound effects, music, dance and pantomime...

In October 2002 the Basement Theatre won the Republican Contest of Youth Programs and Projects, organized by the Ministry of Education of Republic of Karelia, and was awarded the grant of 20,000 rubles for upgrading theatre facilities and staging new productions...

In March 2003 the Basement Theatre took part in the II International Music/Theatre Youth Festival "Golden Key" held in Petrozavodsk The performance of "The Wizard of Oz" was awarded the Diploma for directing and acting.

In 2003 two new productions were presented to the public, both in English: a "thriller-comedy" Ideal Husband after O. Wilde's play and A Midsummer' Night's Dream - "ecentric night adventures" based on Shakespeare's comedy.

In the spring of 2003 the Basement Theatre joined the TACIS cross-border cooperation project "The Network of Finnish and Karelian Youth". Under its auspices the joint seminar/workshop together with the Student Theatre of the University of Joensuu (Finland) was held in August in Petrozavodsk. The Finnish students presented the performance "Night in the Hades", and the Basemnt Theatre - its recent production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". In November the Basement Theatre paid a return visit to Joensuu, where it presented "Pygmalion" at the Joensuu University Theatre.

In February 2004 the Basement Theatre showed the same perormance at the International Art Festival in Helsinki.

In June 2003 the Basement Theatre was awarded the grant of $ 3,000 from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. State Department for conducting a guest tour of the towns of Republic of Karelia. In the autumn of 2003 the Basement Theatre brought its performances "Pygmalion" and "The Wizard of Oz" to the English-speaking audiences of the towns of Kondopoga, Sortavala and Rostomuksha.

16 September 2004 the "Pygmalion" performance of Basement Theatre was attended by a very special guest - the member of the British Royal Family Prince Edward, who visited Petrozavodsk as the patron of the international AWARD program.

In December 2004 the first-night of the English-speaking performance A Christmas Promise based on the play be H. Miller. This youth comedy was presented by "the young generation" - the second- and third-year students, all of them appeared on the stage for the first time.

In April 2005 the Basement Theatre presented its The Dawns Are Quiet Here after the well-known story by B. Vasiliev. The performance, dedicated to the 60th Anniversary of the victory in the WW II, had a warm reception and numerous positive reviews.

The creative achievements of the Basement Theatre received a wide and positive coverage in the regional mass media: regional and city newspapers and radio programs.

The venue of the Basement Theatre performances is the Student Club of the School of Foreign Languages of the Karelian State Pedagogical University (Lenin Street, 29)

The Art Director of the Theatre is Dr. Vladimir Prozorov, Professor of the English Department.