Musicology Annotation << Back The Formation of the Russian Children's Music Theater in the 20s–30s of the 20th century in the Light of Trends of Cultural Policy in the USSR Alexander A. Ermakov In this article the author researches the development of the children's musical theatre as the form of creativity and education of the kids (in the USSR in 20–30s of XX century). Based on the analysis of various materials, the author revealed the main trends in the development of the "professional theater" and "amateur theater" in the context of the state ideology. In the Soviet period, the professional theatre direction became a priority and received the main support of the state. Amateur children's performances took place mainly at schools. In the second half of the 1920s, new trends appeared in the repertory policy that corresponded to socialist attitudes. The themes of the performances were signifi cantly changed, performances had socio-political, agitational signifi cance. The activities of the censorship authorities during this period contributed to the emergence of special lists of permitted and forbidden to perform operatic works. The difference in previous years for the amateur theater (didactic) and professional theater (artistic) in the 1930s was not noticeable. The tendency towards the convergence of these two directions of children's music theater was continued in the following decades of the Soviet period. It corresponded to the general vector of state policy implemented in various spheres of the functioning of musical culture. Keywords: Children's Musical Theatre, children's opera, opera for kids, Musical fairy tale, state cultural policy of the USSR in the 20–30s of the XX century, repertoire lists. Contacts: E-mail: theoreticural@mail.ru Pp. 23-31.