Immediately after the birth of his son Petrusha, Tsar Alexey Mikhaylovich wished to have comedians at his court. A special envoy was sent to Riga to look for a foreign repertory company willing to come to wild Muscovia. However, having no confidence in the success of this this enterprise, preparations for the performance began in Moscow as well. Johann Gottfried Gregory, a pastor from the German Quarter, was ordered to recruit a repertory company from foreign soldiers and merchants’ children. This was done: 60 people began rehearsals on October 1, 1672. Meanwhile, a spacious building with an area of 60 square sazhens was being erected in the Tsar's village of Preobrazhenskoe. The building was upholstered from the inside with red – in the royal place – and green cloth, and a kind of the box was arranged for the queen. It was called Komediynaya Khoromina. A non-professional repertory company gave the first performance lasting as much as 10 hours at Khoromina on October 17 (October 27 in the new style), 1672, in less than three weeks of rehearsals. The performance was called Esther, or Artaxerxes Action. The choice of the topic was not accidental. Artaxerxes chose Esther in the same manner as Alexey Mikhaylovich chose Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina as his wife at the bride show. Both queens became famous. Ancient Esther saved her people from death by libel, Natalya Kirillovna gave the Romanov family a son, Petr, the successor of his father's educational and innovative work. Petr moved the first Russian theater Komediynaya Khoromina to the Red Square and made it public.
