About the Palme Theatre

History of the theatre

Palme is a Russian-language theatre studio founded by professional actor Oleg Palme and professional director Lilia Akhachinskaya on 27 October 1996 in Vancouver.

Our theatre creates plays and children’s performances, hosts festivals, concerts and other cultural events on the ancestral, hereditary territory of the Coast Salish peoples: Xməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ.

Over the course of 29 years, Palmé has nurtured several generations of interesting, vibrant personalities who create plays and performances with inspiration and love. The theatre sees this as its mission and purpose. The word ‘Palmé’ itself is not only a surname, but also a credo: a breakthrough of an actor’s love, skill and energy.

At first, parents bring their little ones, and they grow and develop step by step, looking up to their older peers. Teenagers learn alongside adults who are in love with the theatre, actors and those who create performances from start to finish.

It is precisely this form of existence — from an art school, where children learn the basics and ‘play,’ to a theatre studio, where drama comes to life in fairy tales and adult performances — that has been chosen and has enjoyed a long and successful life at Palmé.

The repertoire is the theatre’s main policy. It reflects our vision of the world. Palmé’s repertoire includes classic works that are difficult to stage, such as Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull, Nikolai Gogol’s Dead Souls, William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler. Several works can rightly be called film-plays: The Dawns Here Are Quiet, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and By the Lake. The combination of action on stage and on screen is often used in the theatre’s productions.

A special part of our theatrical life is the New Year’s fairy-tale performances and interactive shows ‘At the Christmas Tree’, as well as the June Children’s Creativity Festivals, which bring joy to children every year and become a bridge between generations.

The Palmé Theatre Studio is a large creative family, a space where culture is preserved, ideas are born, friends are made, and each participant finds an opportunity for self-expression and creativity.

We gratefully preserve and develop the unique method of teaching and creating performances developed by Oleg Palme. For us, theatre is a space for inspiration, mutual understanding, and creative achievements.

In memory of the Master

On 27 April 2022, the theatre lost its Master, founder, chief director and teacher, Oleg Palme. He left his students a unique method of teaching and creating performances with Russian-speaking students in Canada – the result of almost three decades of Oleg Palme’s collaboration with immigrant artists. This legacy has been passed on to generations of his students, who are imbued with Oleg’s energy in the theatre that bears his name. The Palme Theatre continues to follow its founder’s credo: ‘Create with love.’

Link to the article about Oleg Palme ›

Address by the Artistic Director

The name of the Palme Theatre reflects more than just the founder’s surname. For us, it stands for the Breakthrough of Acting Love, Mastery, and Energy. P.A.L.M.E. We would like to add that Palmé is a space where people ‘create with love.’

The most important thing in our theatre is people. We gladly welcome enthusiastic adults who have not buried the trusting and inquisitive ‘child’ in their souls. We attract caring young people who never stop learning and working on themselves. Our team includes many teenagers who are curious and sometimes ‘difficult.’ And, of course, we are open to children who love to play with other children and enjoy direct contact.

The structure of Palme

For 26 years, the theatre was the brainchild of Oleg Palme, with Lilia Akhachinskaya as his ‘gray cardinal.’ Both were founders and artistic directors of Palme. Their son Andrei supported the theatre from a young age, was its first actor, and organized festivals in Vancouver.

After Oleg’s departure, Lilia, at the suggestion of Yegor Revenko, developed a new structure to preserve the order, meaning and spirit of Palme.

Each Palme member occupies their own niche and contributes as much as possible. The structure is complemented by the arrival of new creative personalities.

Leaders and founders:

Artistic Director — Lilia Akhachinskaya
Director of External Relations and Internal Conflict Resolution — Andrey Akhachinsky

Directorate:

Lilia Akhachinskaya
Galina Bazova
Vitaly Bunin
Margarita Smolyakova
Viktoria Yakovleva

Administration:

Executive Director — Olga Novakova
Financial Advisor — Galina Bazova
Accountant — Lyudmila Volkotrubova.
Lawyer and Translator — Maria Sokolova

Theatre creative team:

Head of the acting troupe – Maxim Duman
Head of the directing team – Egor Revenko
Literary director – Alexander Kulyashov
Marketing and advertising department – Egor Revenko, Andrey Akhachinsky
Website administrator – Philip Dyckman
Sound engineers – Alexandra Anoshina
Music Director – Katerina Kiseleva
Choreographers – Tamara Chelyubeeva, Nadezhda Dobryanskaya
Set Design – Lilia Aniks
Set Construction – Maxim Duman
Costume designer – Larisa Bushmina
Lighting designer and technical director – Philip Dyckman
Make-up department – Fatima Issa
Stylist – Margarita Smolyakova
Editor, ticket administrator – Nadezhda Fedortsova
Assistant director – senior and adult group studio members
Stage manager – Tamara Chelyubeeva
Props – Olga Grigoryan, Oksana Gedz
Auditorium manager – Vladimir Aniks
Catering – Natalia Shalagina
Photographer and videographer – Victoria Yakovleva, Dmitry Sandovich

What does the spirit of Palme mean in the play?

Our performances are watched ‘in one breath’ because the tempo and rhythm of the performance and the actors are organically structured, the action is dynamic and filled with meaning and subtext.

We choose plays that are illuminated by the light of love and hope, not despair.

The method is a school of inner experience.

The main expressive tool is the inner energy transmitted to the partner and the audience.
Not acting, but sincerely experiencing one’s feelings. Maintaining the tone, as Oleg Palme taught. This is the miracle of theatre.

School of Arts and Studio

Teachers:

Oleg’s famous training sessions. They were more like one-man shows, in which he was the actor, director and teacher all rolled into one.

The studio members used to joke that they came to Oleg to ‘recharge their batteries’ when they came to the acting training sessions. Those who observed the process often said that the training was as exciting as a good play.

The entire arsenal of acting exercises and etude work was complemented by stage speech and stage movement. Often, these were mixed together.

In our version, we will focus specifically on acting training, with stage speech and stage movement being taught in separate blocks.

The tempo and rhythm of the class are very important: 40-50 minutes should pass very dynamically, with one task flowing easily into the next.

Each teacher prepares a programme for the academic season.

Katerina Kiseleva – vocal teacher, musical development for young children, stage speech for adults.
Tamara Chelyubeeva – young children, acting and stage movement for younger and older groups, dance.
Nadezhda Dobryanskaya – stage movement for older and adult groups, dance
Dmitry Umlev – stage speech for older and adult groups
Maxim Duman – stage speech for older and adult groups.

The directors of the current season’s performances take turns conducting thematic acting workshops.

Lilia Aniks – artists’ workshop
Anastasia Kryukova – parent-volunteer team
Olga Grigoryan – recruitment of studio members
Alexander Bobrov – organisation of summer camp

Repertoire and chronology of major events

What the repertoire means to us:

The theatre’s repertoire is our main policy.

Over the years, we have built up a large, carefully selected repertoire: not a single random work.
Many performances return in new interpretations.
We learn from the classics — we make them contemporary.

A production must have a directorial vision that brings light and hope.
At Palmé, there can be no mere illustrations of plays.

Fairy tales are not copies of Disney cartoons.

Our favourite genre is tragicomedy: sadness and joy side by side, just like in life.

We prefer Russian drama, French comedy, and fairy tales!The poetry of the classics, especially of the Silver Age, is always heard in performances and evenings, especially on behalf of the characters played.

Chronology of performances and major events at the Palme Theatre over 28 years

2025

January – Alice in Wonderland – English version
April – The Glass Menagerie.
June – A Fairytale Day at Palmé – a festival announcing future works for children and young people.

2024

April, October – ‘An Ordinary Miracle’ (new version).
June – ‘Secrets of the Theatre Chest’ – screening and examination of directorial works
December – Fairy tale ‘Alice in Wonderland’

2023

January – ‘Hedda Gabler’
May – ‘The Little Prince’ (online video performance by studio members).
June – Festival-announcement of children’s creativity
December – ‘The Cunning Fairy Tale’

2022

May – Hedda Gabler
December – Fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood 2

2021

December – The Snow Queen

2020

Online acting classes for children and young people in Canada and America

2019

June – Children’s Creativity Festival
October – Hamlet
December – The Tale of Pinocchio

2018

February – Winter Ball
May – Summer Ball
December – Cinderella

2017

January – Christmas with Cinderella, English version
April – Detective comedy Look for a Woman

2016

February – March – Comedy ‘Oscar’
December – ‘The Cunning Fairy Tale’

2015

May – ‘The Seven Little Goats’
June – ‘One Absolutely Happy Village’
December – Fairy tale ‘The Seven Little Goats’

2014

June – Fairy tale ‘The Wizard of the Emerald City’.
October – Autumn Festival ‘Russian Classics’
November – ‘The Seagull’
December – Fairy tale ‘The Wizard of the Emerald City’

2013

June – Comedy ‘Chasing Two Hares’
September – Comedy ‘Chasing Two Hares’
May – ‘One Absolutely Happy Village’
December – Fairy tale ‘Aibolit’

2012

May – Dead Souls
October – Dead Souls
December – The Snow Queen

2011

January — Fairy tale — The Snow Queen
March — The Hound of the Baskervilles, film adaptation
December — The Nutcracker

2010

January — Russian Christmas Festival.
May — Fairy tale Once Upon a Time
October — By the Lake, based on the works of Anton Chekhov, film adaptation
December — Aladdin’s Magic Lamp

2009

April — Comedy Oscar
May — Concert ‘Spring on 4th Street’.
October — ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ film-performance — (included in the world catalogue of performances about Sherlock Holmes)

2008

January, April — ‘Filumena Marturano’
September — ‘The Dawns Here Are Quiet’ — film adaptation — (trailer)
October — ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ film adaptation —
December — Fairy tale ‘Karlsson’ in two parts

2007

January — Fairy tale ‘Winnie the Pooh’
April — ‘The Inspector General’
May — ‘The Little Prince’
December — ‘The Cunning Fairy Tale’

2006

January — Fairy tale — ‘The Cunning Fairy Tale’, English version
May — ‘The Dawns Here Are Quiet’ — Chekhovafilm production
November — ‘The Little Prince’
December — ‘Little Red Riding Hood’

2005

January — Fairy tale ‘Little Red Riding Hood — 2’
May — ‘Two Arrows’
November — ‘The Inspector General’

2004

April — ‘The House That Swift Built’
May — ‘The Shadow’
October — ‘The House That Swift Built’.
December — ‘Cinderella’

2003

May — Fairy tale “Cinderella”
October — Comedy “Oscar”
December — Fairy tale “At the Whim of a Witch”

2002

January — Fairy tale ‘The Snow Queen’
April — Fairy tale ‘The Wizard of the Emerald City’
June — Comedy ‘Chasing Two Hares’
December — ‘Waiting for a Miracle’

2001

December — Fairy tale ‘Pinocchio’
December — Detective comedy ‘Look for a Woman’

2000

May — ‘Slavic Transformations’
June — ‘Classical Transformations’
September — Comedy ‘Oscar’
October — Slavic Transformations
December — Fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood 2

1999

In January, the theatre studio received charitable status.
January — Fairy tale The Snow Queen
May — Classical Transformations
December — Comedy ‘Oscar’

1998

In January, the theatre studio in the Slavic traditions received non-profit status.
June — ‘The Forgotten Fairy Tale’
October — Fairy tale ‘At Lukomorye’

1997

June — Fairy tale ‘At the Pike’s Command’

1996

The theatre was founded by Oleg Palme and Lilia Akhachinskaya on 27
October 1996 with the support of Andrei Akhachinsky’s son.

What it means to be a Palme actor

Those who grew up in Oleg’s theatre understand instinctively what it means to be a Palmé actor. It is very important for new studio members, especially adults, to understand this as early as possible and tune into our creative wavelength.

An actor in our theatre is always a big kid at heart, ready to trust the circumstances in which he finds himself in a play.

Our actors are not lazy people, they are not conceited, they are always ready to play the role that is needed for the theatre. It is necessary to find the essence of the character by delving into the text and by clarifying the relationships with partners in the play. The search for organic action and mise-en-scène largely depends on the performer.

A Palm actor may participate in theatre projects outside our theatre if this does not conflict with or interfere with Palm productions.

Our actors:

Yegor Revenko
Maxim Duman
Alexander Bobrov
Fabian Ortiz
Yuri Balchugov
Yuri Boldyrev
Mikhail Bezruchko
Ivan Zverev
Valentin Glivenoko
Semyon Balchugov
Ivan Plotnikov
Andrey Akhachinsky
Nikita Shevchuk
Kostya Grigoryan
Olga Novakova
Asya Savelyeva
Alexandra Anoshina
Tamara Chelyubeeva
Nadezhda Dobryanskaya
Natalya Butenko
Nadezhda Fedortsova
Dina Bunina
Sofia Bunina
Oksana Gedz
Alisa Grigorieva
Olga Sharevich
Margarita Smolyakova
Tatyana Gusintseva