The Action in Support of Russian Theatrical Initiatives is an independent theatrical monetary prize which has been awarded annually since 2003.

The notion of conducting the "Action", as it is called for short, was introduced at a meeting of the Russian Presidential Council on Arts and Culture. Yevgeny Mironov took the floor and proposed that a Presidential grant or stipend be established in support of various theatrical initiatives. The President approved the proposal. The Action's primary goal was to encourage the endeavors of provincial theaters, and many cultural workers from all over the Russian Federation have been its recipients over the last five years.

As the Action's initiator, Yevgeny Mironov was given complete freedom in defining the structure of the awards and nominating the recipients. To conduct the proceedings, he has formed an organizational committee comprised of his like-minded colleagues. In allotting the funds, the Committee is governed exclusively by its members' personal tastes and preferences. The Committee is not a panel of impartial judges nor a council of independent experts: its members are practitioners and direct participants of the theatrical process.

Two of the Action's original subdivisions – support of theatrical projects and personal grants to theater professionals – remain in place since the day of its creation. Other subdivisions change in accordance with social demands, and have included such categories as assistance to educational programs and furtherance of contemporary Russian dramaturgy by way of publication. Today, in addition to the two original categories, the Action issues grants to aid studio- and folk theaters of Russia and awards stipends to students of theater schools. Recipients of the Action award have included the New Siberia International Festival of Independent Theater and New Dramaturgy; the website "The Theater Custodian"; a contest for a new Stanislavsky memorial; amateur children's and folk theaters in various small towns across Russia, including the Piano Theater for Deaf and Mute Children in Nizhny Novgorod; the Ecological and Ethnic Marionette Theater Festival of the Khakassian Republic; the International NET Festival; costume designers participating in the Russian Fashion Week; and many others.

The Action differs from various other theatrical awards in that it has no nominees or winners.

A note to site visitors: The Action is an open award. The organizational committee is continuously seeking worthy recipients, outstanding creative individuals that care about the future of Russian theater and are actively working to further its development. If you are aware of such persons, folk theaters or children's theater groups, please tell us about them!

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