[2] Under Lyubimov, the theatre shot to popularity in Moscow,[citation needed] with Vladimir Vysotsky,[3] Zinaida Slavina[4] and Alla Demidova[5] as the leading actors.

[6] When another outstanding stage director, Anatoly Efros, was appointed to run the theatre in Lyubimov's stead,[5] he was boycotted and reviled by leading actors in the foulest terms.

After Efros's death three years later, a staunch Communist supporter, Nikolay Gubenko, was nominated to lead the troupe.

[7] In June, 2011 before a performance of Bertolt Brecht's play The Good Person of Szechwan in Czech Republic[8] the actors of the theatre refused to rehearse unless they were paid first.

After Lyubimov's resignation the theater was headed first by Valery Zolotukhin (2011-2013), then by Vladimir Fleisher (2013-2015) and since March 2015, by Irina Apeksimova.