Teatr

If you think a culture channel is just slow pans of museum galleries, Teatr will surprise you. This is Russia's dedicated theatre and performing arts broadcaster, and it treats the stage like live sport, full-length ballet from the Bolshoi, archival productions from the Mariinsky, and contemporary drama you won't catch on state TV's prime slots. The scheduling has actual reverence: a Chekhov adaptation gets a four-hour slot, no commercials, no interruption. The documentaries between productions are the real sleeper content, deep dives backstage, interviews with directors who actually say something interesting, and profiles of Soviet-era performers that feel like recovered history. Production quality varies wildly. The modern HD broadcasts of new plays look crisp and cinematic; the 1980s opera recordings look like they were fished out of a basement. That grit has charm. Teatr live is essential for anyone who wants to watch Teatr online and believes theatre is more than a night out, it's a way Russia talks to itself. Culture tv Russia doesn't get much better curated than this.