Sakha Academic Theater, Cultural theater in Yakutsk, Russia

The Sakha Academic Theater is the main drama theater of the Sakha Republic, staging plays in the Sakha language in Yakutsk. Its troupe traces its origins to a Yakut company formed in 1920 and became a separate theater with the premiere of Nikolai Neustroyev's comedy "Kuhagan Tyyn" (Evil Spirit) on 17 October 1925. The building carries the name of writer and statesman Platon Oyunsky, added in 1934.

The company traces its origin to 17 October 1925, when Nikolai Neustroyev's comedy "Kuhagan Tyyn" (Evil Spirit) premiered in Yakutsk; that date is counted as the theater's birth. In 1934 it was named after the poet and playwright Platon Oyunsky, and in 1995 it received the title academic. From 1983 to 2010 Andrei Borisov led it as chief and artistic director.

The theatre performs in Sakha (Yakut), and its name honours Platon Oyunsky, a Sakha poet, playwright and state figure, since 1934. Its repertoire includes Oyunsky's "Uluu Kudaŋsa" and the olonkho "Kyys Debiliye", which won the Golden Mask critics' prize in 2002. The olonkho is the Sakha epic recited in the theatre's productions.

The theatre performs in the Sakha language, so non-speakers should rely on the programme and synopses rather than the dialogue. Its home is in Yakutsk, reachable on foot from the central districts; the box office and website sakhatheatre.ru list the repertoire. Yakutsk winters are extremely cold, so plan indoor time around the performance.

The theatre's founding date, 17 October, marks the 1925 premiere of Nikolai Neustroyev's comedy "Kuhagan Tyyn" (Evil Spirit); the playwright was one of the founders of Sakha literature. Its first director was the poet and dramatist Anempodist Sofronov-Alampa, and the first professional director, Spiridon Grigoryev, a GITIS graduate, worked there from 1933 to 1961.