On November 13-22, 2017 the "Laboratory for the Modern Spectator" took place for the first time in Moscow and St. Petersburg. It began its work on the basis of the Perm Opera and Ballet Theater a year before. It combined educational projects: lectures before performances, creative meetings with artists and directors, master classes and open rehearsals.

The main task of the Laboratory is to introduce the viewer to the theatrical and general cultural context, to create conditions for a more meaningful perception of contemporary art and new forms of theater.

The participants, together with the directors, studied the material on which the theater is currently working, studied the structure and language of the work, discovering the meanings and expressive possibilities contained in it. The joint work allowed the creators of the play to discover new ways of influencing the audience, the viewers — to see more clearly the intention of the artists, in order to ultimately move from the traditional theater of a playwright, actor or director to a modern and more relevant theater of the spectator.

The “laboratory sessions” were dedicated to the works of Gustav Mahler and Alban Berg and preceded the November concerts of Theodor Currentzis and the musicAeterna orchestra in Moscow and St. Petersburg.