Another one of the main heroes for Gogol was His Majesty — the Theater.

Gogol was closely connected with the Alexandrinsky Theater. In his youth, he dreamed of joining the St. Petersburg dramatic stage as an actor, and later, having become a famous writer and playwright, he personally took part in preparing the premieres of his plays. In 1836, he attended rehearsals of his immortal comedy "The Inspector General." In the actors' foyer, he read the play to the actors, and in the rehearsal room and auditorium during rehearsals, he made corrections and changes to the text. "The Inspector General" became the most performed play not only on the Alexandrinsky stage but in Russian theater as a whole.

It was here, in the vestibule of the Alexandrinsky Theater, that Gogol conceived the idea of depicting in a dramatic sketch the cacophony of opinions and judgments of the audience. And so, in the famous "Theatrical Dispersal after the Performance of a New Comedy," the audience of the Alexandrinsky Theater became a stage character. All of the writer’s dramatic works were staged at the Alexandrinsky, and even some of his prose works were adapted for the stage during his lifetime.

An attempt has been made in the hall to recreate Gogol’s theatrical world. Here are photographs from various productions of "The Inspector General," up to the latest — the play directed by Valery Fokin, which has received many theatrical and state awards. In the display case, you can see the costume of Zemlyanika from the 1897 production, the director’s copy of L.S. Vivien, who staged "The Inspector General" in 1952 with B.A. Freindlich as Khlestakov, Yu.V. Tolubeyev as the Mayor, and N.K. Cherkasov as Osip.

Source:

https://alexandrinsky.ru/zaly/gogolevskiy-zal/