Little Theatre - one of the oldest theaters in Russia, so named only because of the smaller compared with the size of the building of the Bolshoi Theater. His company was established at Moscow University in 1756.
In 1806., The theater received the status of the treasury by logging in imperial theaters. And the actors received a troupe of theater serfs were freed from serfdom. Its premises from the troupe for a long time was not, and the political situation to that did not have: the country shook instability and military conflicts.
Back in 1803. company split into opera and drama. But in fact, opera and drama for a long time side by side. Until 1824. ballet-opera and drama troupe of the Moscow Imperial Theater were actually united, one direction, the same artists, but also for a long time after that theaters were even joined by an underground passage, shared wardrobe, etc.