Old Khottabych

The First State Theater in Armenia was founded on August 16, 1921 and officially opened on January 25, 1922. The founder and artistic director of the theater was Levon Kalantaryan (Levon Kalantar). The first performance was Gabriel Sundukyan's "Pepo". In 1932 the theatre was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, and in 1937 it was named after Gabriel Sundukyan. Up until 1938 it operated in Shahumyan Working Club’s building (currently "Armenia Hotel”), then it moved to a newly-built building at the Commune Park (now 26 Commissioners). From 1953 to 1977 Vardan Atchemyan was the artistic director of the theater. In 1960 it became known as the Academic Theater. From 1977 to 1979 the main director of the theater was Hrachya Ghaplanyan. From 1979 to 1983, along with his actor’s career, Khoren Abrahamyan was the principal director of the theater. On January 9, 2012 Tigran Gasparyan was appointed chief director of the Gabriel Sundukyan National Academic Theater.