The company of the Lesya Ukrainka National Academic Theatre of Russian Drama operates on the basis of the first permanent Solovtsov Theatre, which was built in 1891.

Since 1926, performances have been held in the former Bergonier Theatre. Among the famous figures of the theatre are: Mikhail Romanov, Yuri Lavrov, Maria Strelkova, Lyubov Dobrzhanskaya, Nikolai Svetlovidov, Evgenia Opalova, Viktor Dobrovolsky, Viktor Khalatov, and later Oleg Borisov, Pavel Luspekayev, Kirill Lavrov, Ada Rogovtseva, Valeria Zaklunnaya - actors, Konstantin Khokhlov, Vladimir Nelli, Nikolai Sokolov, Leonid Varpakhovsky, Georgy Tovstonogov - directors, Anatoly Petritsky, Moritz Umansky, David Borovsky, Daniel Lider, Leon Alshits - artists, Boris Lyatoshinsky, Yuri Shaporin - composers.

The building also houses a museum of theatre history.