The book is the first study of the philosophical views of V. V. Rozanov (1856–1919) on theatrical art at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries, which have not yet become available to the cultural community. Her characters are M. N. Ermolova, K. S. Stanislavsky, F. I. Chaliapin, L. S. Bakst, A. Duncan and others. Interesting details are given from the stage practice of the Maly, Alexandria and Suvorinsky theaters, and the V. F. Komissarzhevskaya Theater. A special place is given to classical dramaturgy (Gogol, L. N. Tolstoy, Griboyedov, Chekhov, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Maeterlinck, Ibsen, Hauptmann), as well as a number of playwrights of the modern and revolutionary era. A significant part of the monograph was made up of Rozanov’s articles on theater, some archival materials and controversy surrounding the article “Actor”. The materials are provided with scientific comments. The publication is addressed to readers interested in the creative heritage of Vasily Rozanov, issues of theater, religion, the history of pre-revolutionary Russia, mass and elite culture of the Silver Age.