No goodbyes —
call me!
No. 23 · Rubinstein
Immersive tour · one-actor theatre
All formats
A tour that behaves like a play. The lights go down, the telephone on the wall rings — and you live through your own evening in Dovlatov’s communal flat not as a spectator but as a late guest.
«A totally new format for St Petersburg» — Sobaka.ru
Radio «Kultura» · broadcast about the performance →Ticket1695 ₽
Whenon Sundays18:15
Durationabout 1.5 hoursan hour in the rooms · tea
Groupup to 15 guests
20 % prepayment, the rest at the meeting point · cancel 24 hours ahead for a full refund of the prepayment
A guest’s voice
«Not a tour but a real play, in which the audience turn into participants. When tea is poured into thin cups for the guests at the huge table, you already believe it: any moment now the room’s host will walk in».
from a review on Tripster
An immersive evening in Dovlatov’s flat
This is not an ordinary tour with a guide walking ahead. The evening is led by an actor — a friend of the host, who takes you from room to room: along the way the tour turns into a theatrical story, and the rooms become scenes. The actor-guide is alone for the whole evening: it is he who meets you at the monument, and he who pours the tea at the end. The neighbours’ voices — an audio play recorded by actors — sound from behind the doors. The lights are dimmed, the sound comes on — footsteps in the corridor, someone else’s telephone conversation, a radio behind the wall — and the flat turns from a museum back into a home. Dovlatov’s ironic 1970s are no special effect here: the wallpaper from the middle of the last century, the telephone on the wall and the neighbours behind the doors are real. You walk through the flat not as a visitor but as a late guest.
A small group is a must. With a large crowd the immersion falls apart: to believe there is someone behind the wall, there have to be few of you. Where else in the city they perform off the stage — in our guide to St Petersburg’s unusual theatres.
What to expect
01One telephone for the whole floorThe narrow corridor of a communal flat, a sideboard with a pre-war tea set, and on the wall — the telephone the whole floor used to talk on.
02Everything comes aliveThe old telephone will suddenly ring, the letterbox will start talking, memory will flare up in the typewriter. Genuine things from the 60s–70s can be picked up, the wardrobes opened, the rooms looked into. The past here is not behind glass but within arm’s reach.
03Neighbours who became proseThe lights go down — and behind the doors the neighbours come alive, the ones Dovlatov turned into his prose: the engineer who retouched ladies’ buttocks by the shared telephone, the colonel with a moped in the corridor.
04Tea to finishThe evening does not end with a bow or a «thank you for the tour»: after the rooms everyone sits down at the shared table. A samovar in the communal kitchen, tea in thin cups and a conversation you do not want to cut short. Tea is included in the ticket — and it all ends the Dovlatov way: no goodbyes, call me.
18:15
At the monumentThis is where the evening begins: at the Dovlatov monument in front of No. 23 you are met by the actor, a friend of the host. Come with a little time to spare: we go up to the flat all together, and the light and sound start for everyone at once.
18:30
Up to the flatThe 1912 staircase, the door of the communal flat. From here on you are no longer a visitor but a late guest.
18:35
The rooms — about an hourThe lights are dimmed, the audio play comes on. Each room is a separate scene: the telephone on the wall, the sideboard with a pre-war tea set, the neighbours behind the doors.
19:30
The kitchenA samovar, tea in thin cups, a conversation you do not want to cut short. Tea is included in the ticket.
around 19:50
No goodbyesThe evening is over, but people usually linger at the table.
Photos — after the performance · the things are real — handle with care · an evening format, for adults and teenagers
Addressing the doubts
Why go
Nothing like it elsewhereAn immersive performance not in built scenery but in Russia’s only authentic writer’s flat that is still lived in. For the city it was a new format: the October 2025 premiere was covered as news by five outlets — Sobaka.ru (twice), Peterburgsky Dnevnik, Teatral, Glavny Regionalny and the Saint Petersburg TV channel.
Almost just for youA group of up to 15 guests. Dovlatov cannot be listened to from a distance: it takes an almost domestic closeness, at which you hear not only the words but the intonations, the chuckles, the pauses.
One beside you, four behind the doorsThere is one live voice — the actor-guide takes you through the rooms and sits with you over tea. Four more voices sound from behind the doors: the neighbours from Dovlatov’s prose are recorded by actors, and the audio play runs through the whole flat. So for fifteen guests you get a performance you are inside, not opposite.
Your place is securedA 20 % prepayment when booking on the site — and your place in the group is yours; the rest at the meeting point. Cancel 24 hours ahead for a full refund of the prepayment.
«One performance a week, on Sunday, fifteen places. In a communal flat there is no «we’ll squeeze up»: when the places are gone, they are gone».
How the evening goes
The title is Dovlatov’s own: «no goodbyes, call me». That is what you say to someone you do not want to let go for good. The evening is built around this — a farewell that keeps being put off: to the flat, to the city, to the people who can no longer be reached by the number on the wall. Behind the wall they are still talking, in the kitchen tea is still being poured, and nobody here yet knows that in a few years they will be living in another country.
The evening features passages from Sergei Dovlatov’s prose: the neighbours’ voices join them, and the flat gradually fills with people again — someone has just stepped out to the kitchen, someone is talking behind the wall.
The premiere took place in October 2025. Directed by Alyona Boyarintseva, idea and sound by Olga Shtern. No two evenings are the same — as in any lived-in flat.
«The wallpaper by the telephone was covered in drawings — a depressing chronicle of the communal subconscious».
Sergei Dovlatov, «Ours», 1983
One-actor theatre
One actor for the whole evening
One visits a person, not a troupe. So a single actor-guide is with you all evening — a friend of the host, Valery Rutkovsky. He comes out to meet you at the monument, climbs the stairs with you, leads you through the rooms and pours the tea at the end. The neighbours from Dovlatov’s prose are close by all evening, but behind the doors: their voices are an audio play recorded by the actors Vladimir Kustov, Ivan Pinzhenin, Alisa Shchedlovskaya and Ksenia Plyusnina. In a room for fifteen guests a second live actor would stand between you and the flat and put you back in the auditorium; one voice beside you leaves you a guest, and four behind the doors fill the flat with people. Directed by Alyona Boyarintseva; producer, idea and sound — Olga Shtern.
Real neighbours live behind the wall. That is not part of the production — it is the condition that makes it work at all.
Who guides and who is heard
-
Valery RutkovskyActor-guide · leads the evening -
Vladimir KustovVoice of the audio play -
Ivan PinzheninVoice of the audio play -
Alisa ShchedlovskayaVoice of the audio play -
Ksenia PlyusninaVoice of the audio play -
Olga ShternProducer · idea and sound -
Alyona BoyarintsevaDirector
The evening is led by an actor-guide. The four voices behind the doors are the actors of the audio play: they are heard all evening and never come on stage.
Inventory
- Ticket
- 1695 ₽
- When
- Sundays, 18:15
- Meeting point
- at the Dovlatov monument, 23 Rubinstein Street — the actor meets you there
- Led by
- an actor-guide, one for the whole evening; the four voices of the audio play stay behind the doors
- Duration
- about an hour and a half
- Group
- small, up to 15 guests
- Age
- adults and teenagers; with younger children, write to us in advance
- What is included
- tour-performance, apartment 34, tea in the communal kitchen
- Payment
- 20 % prepayment (339 ₽), the rest at the meeting point
- Refund
- cancel 24 hours before the start — the prepayment is refunded in full
- Directions
- Get directions →
- Booking
- Choose a date →
Case No. 34Immersive tour-performance
Enquiries
Frequently asked questions
Is this a tour with facts and dates?
No — and that is the main difference. You do not listen to a talk about the flat; you live an evening in it: the telephone rings, neighbours talk behind the doors, the samovar goes on in the kitchen. Facts about the house and its residents come up along the way, but they are not the point here. If what you want is to find out who lived where and what happened here, take the museum tour, and come here for what that tour does not have.
How many actors are in the performance?
One in the flesh — the actor-guide, who meets you at the monument, leads you through the rooms and sits with you over tea. Four more voices come from behind the doors: the neighbours from Dovlatov’s prose, recorded by the actors Vladimir Kustov, Ivan Pinzhenin, Alisa Shchedlovskaya and Ksenia Plyusnina. That is the audio play: you hear it all evening, but those four never step out on stage.
Why do we meet outside rather than in the flat?
Because that is how you arrive as a guest: the host comes out to meet you. The meeting at the Dovlatov monument is the first scene, not a group assembly; then the entrance hall, the 1912 staircase, the door of the communal flat — and you are no longer a visitor but a late guest. Come with a little time to spare: we all go up to the flat together, and the light and sound start for everyone at once.
Who leads the evening?
The actor-guide Valery Rutkovsky — a friend of the host of the flat. He carries the whole evening alone: from the meeting at the monument to tea in the kitchen. He leads rather than lectures: he speaks to the guests, but drags no one on stage.
Is the staircase steep?
Yes. This is a residential building from 1912; the quarry-stone steps are original and comfortable to climb; there is a lift in the entrance hall, but the thresholds and narrow doorways are still there. If it will be hard for one of the guests, write ahead to hello@dovlatovmuseum.ru — we will advise on the details.
Will I have to take part?
Only if you feel like it. No one will drag you on stage or make you read aloud: you can spend the whole evening walking, listening and saying nothing. The actor speaks to the guests but never picks anyone against their will — and those who answer and laugh usually get drawn in on their own, by the third room.
How do I give a visit as a gift?
Easily. Write to hello@dovlatovmuseum.ru or call +7 931 109-12-35 — we will agree a date, book the visit in the name of the person you are giving it to, and send you a confirmation you will not be embarrassed to put in an envelope. The evening runs on prepayment: 20 % when booking on the website, the rest at the meeting point, or the full amount, or in instalments via Yandex Split; the ticket arrives by email from hello@dovlatovmuseum.ru. Cancel 24 hours before the start and we refund the prepayment in full. The simplest route is the gift certificate «A Telegram Invitation»: a personal summons, ready within the day.
What if you are running late?
Call us — the group can wait about five minutes. Longer, unfortunately, is not possible: the light and sound start for everyone at once, and there is no way in once the action has begun. Better to arrive with a little time to spare.
Can I take photos?
Afterwards — yes. During — no: a screen and a flash break the darkness the whole thing is built around. The residents’ rooms stay closed — people live behind those walls.
Who is this evening for?
You do not need to have read Dovlatov beforehand — many people first meet him here. It suits those who love St Petersburg without the gloss — with irony, warmth and a touch of nostalgia; theatre-goers, fans of immersive formats and anyone who values real presence over dry facts: the objects here are genuine, from the 60s and 70s, and you may touch them — carefully. People come in couples, in groups and on their own — at the shared table nobody feels alone.
Is it suitable for children?
This is an evening format for adults and teenagers. With younger children, write to us in advance — we will tell you honestly whether it is worth it.
Is there a toilet?
Unfortunately, no: the toilet is in the residential part of the flat — that is the residents’ area, and the museum has no access to it. Fitting a separate toilet in the museum part is not permitted under the regulations for a residential building. The cafés on Rubinstein Street will help out — there are dozens around.
How do I pay for a ticket?
A booking is secured by prepayment when you book on the website: 20 % — 339 ₽ per person, with the rest paid at the meeting point; you can also pay in full or in instalments via Yandex Split. The ticket arrives by email. Cancel 24 hours before the start and we refund the prepayment in full — guaranteed.
Witness Statements
What guests say
«Probably the best experience of our trip to St Petersburg. It went straight to our hearts. The guide-actor is wonderful, he leads it in a very engaging, lively way. At some point you catch yourself completely immersed in the atmosphere, having forgotten what year it is outside. A separate pleasure — the tea at the end».
«We are absolutely, unreservedly delighted! The guide breathed life into every object, every story. There is no glass here and no stern ‘do not touch’ signs: you can sit on the chairs, leaf through old books, touch a thousand things. It feels as if the owners have just stepped out for a minute and you have dropped in to visit them. Thank you for a piercing experience!»
«Not a tour but a real play, in which the audience become participants: together with a friend of Dovlatov’s they wander through the rooms, hear the voices of Dovlatov’s characters and of the writer himself. By the time tea is poured for the guests into thin cups at the enormous table, I myself had come to believe that its owner was about to walk into the room, and that we really would see him off to America — as friends, as human beings. If this play did not exist, it would have to be invented!»
«I had long wanted to get to this tour. And I made it! Very pleased! Thank you for the original format of the play! It runs two hours, and I did not want to leave».
«The organisers managed to convey the spirit of the time, and the actors to convey what a man goes through and help us touch his hard choice, his disappointments and the happy moments of his life. The actors are young and talented: they act, and you can see they enjoy it!»
Guest reviews
9 entries · Tripster and Yandex Maps
To be honest, right up to the end I could not work out what exactly awaited me at «No goodbyes — call me!», and perhaps that is why the impression turned out so strong.
There are places you simply visit, and there are places where your sense of time suddenly shifts. Here it was the second. You walk into the flat on Rubinstein Street and at first just look at the details, and then at some point you catch yourself with a very strange feeling: as if this flat is not a museum but alive. I really liked that the play does not try to explain everything. Rather, it invites you to assemble the story yourself from pieces: phrases, sounds, objects, light, random details. And that draws you in far more. And there is a lot of good humour here. Dovlatov is impossible to imagine without that light irony, when it is funny and a second later something aches a little inside. The result is a very human image, without the feeling of a museum «portrait of the great writer».
And a special pleasure is the small company of spectators. There is no sense of a mass event; on the contrary, everything happens almost as if at someone’s home. So the tea after the play turned out to be the perfect continuation. You sit, talk, discuss Dovlatov, and it feels as if the play has not ended yet.
A very beautiful impression. Warm, a little nostalgic and very interesting. I would gladly go again, because I think the second time you start noticing completely different details.❤️
Hello!
We went to the immersive tour «No goodbyes — call me» on 13.09.2026.
The idea of the tour is excellent, the museum’s atmosphere is authentic, you can feel that time.
Now to the main point. What the website states does not match reality.
The tour was listed to start at 18:15; we arrived early, but in the end we only went into the flat at 18:30, and by the time we had taken off our coats and looked around, the tour began at about 18:35. By 19:05 it was already over. So the tour lasted 30 min out of the stated 90 min. Second, the website says «Performed by Vladimir Kustov, Ivan Pinzhenin, Alisa Shchedlovskaya and Ksenia Plyusnina. You are met by the museum’s keepers: Ivan Eikhenbaum and the partners who opened the museum right inside a lived-in flat». We were met by a young man, who was also the actor — the only one. The actor is good, we liked him, but why is he the only one? And he is also the one meeting guests in the street? That gets in the way of the immersion… Third, there was no tea :( none at all.
In sum, the immersive tour does not match its description at all. Because there was no tour as such either. The voices coming from the speakers remained, for us personally, a disconnected story. In Dovlatov’s room itself the voice from the speaker was practically inaudible (so quiet you could not make it out).
At the end, when it was all over, we even double-checked whether we had come to the right place. The museum is great, as is its potential. A pity it did not live up to expectations… (not our own, but those stated on the website).
«No goodbyes — call me!» turned out to be an entirely special theatre experience for me. It is not quite a play in the usual sense, but a real journey into Dovlatov’s world.
Together with the actor, who becomes your guide and Dovlatov’s friend, we walk through the rooms of a real communal flat. And gradually a small miracle happens: the space comes alive. Objects talk, telephones ring, lights come on, different languages are heard, unexpected details appear. You are not just watching what is happening, you are inside it the whole time.
I really liked how much interaction there is. Here you can laugh, answer back, play, talk to the actor and the other audience members. But the most valuable thing is that none of it looks artificial. Behind the play a real story gradually emerges, and Dovlatov becomes not a literary character but a living person, whom you seem to get to know through his friends, his things and the place where he once lived.
And the flat itself is incredible. An old communal flat, real objects, small rooms, staircases, corridors. You have the feeling that you have briefly landed in the Leningrad of another time and by chance found yourself inside someone else’s, yet strangely familiar, life.
After the performance a very warm feeling remains.
I highly recommend it. Especially to those who love Dovlatov, but honestly, even if you know nothing about him, this play can still be a fine introduction.
I highly recommend the immersive tour «No goodbyes — call me!» Very original. Dovlatov’s flat is done very interestingly. The actors are great.
Not a tour but a real play, in which the audience turn into participants: together with a friend of Dovlatov’s they wander through the rooms, hear the voices of Dovlatov’s characters and of the writer himself. By the time tea is poured into thin cups for the guests at the huge table, I myself had come to believe that any moment now its host would walk into the room, and that we really would see him off to America — as friends, as people do. If this play did not exist, it would have to be invented!
The organisers managed to convey the spirit of the time, and the actors — to convey what a man went through and to help us touch his hard choice, his disappointments and the happy moments of his life. The actors are young and talented people: they act, and you can see they enjoy it!
We are absolutely, unreservedly delighted! The guide breathed life into every object, every story. There are no glass cases or stern «do not touch» signs here: you can sit on the chairs, leaf through old books, touch a thousand things. It feels as if the owners have just stepped out for a minute and you have dropped in on them. Thank you for a poignant experience!
Probably the best experience of our trip to St Petersburg. It went straight to our hearts. The actor-guide is wonderful, leads it very engagingly, vividly. At some point you catch yourself completely immersed in the atmosphere, having forgotten what year it is outside. The tea at the end is a treat in itself.
I had wanted to get to this tour for a long time. And I made it! Very pleased! Thank you for the original format of the play! It runs two hours, and I did not want to leave.
A very intimate museum: it feels as if you are stepping inside the text of Dovlatov’s stories rather than into an exhibition.
It is especially great that the flat has Dovlatov’s genuine belongings: publications from his lifetime, magazines, as well as his family’s personal things.
Originally we planned to get into the Sergei Dovlatov Museum-Apartment, but it turned out far more interesting! Special thanks for the immersion in both the history and the everyday life of different eras of our country.
Press
What they wrote about the premiere
«It is three in one: a tour + a play + a quest»
Sobaka.ru — on «No goodbyes — call me!»
A performance-tour inside a communal flat where people still live was news for the city, and the press noticed at once. The October 2025 premiere was covered by Sobaka.ru (twice), Peterburgsky Dnevnik, Teatral, Glavny Regionalny and the Saint Petersburg TV channel, which called the evening “a real journey through time”. Sobaka.ru wrote that the sounds, the smells and the authentic Soviet-era things create “the feeling of a waking dream”. In September 2026 the performance became the subject of a separate programme on the federal Radio Kultura (VGTRK): the museum’s co-founders told listeners on air how an evening is played in a communal flat. The publications are below — read them yourself.
In the press: «No goodbyes — call me!»
- St Petersburg TV«The Petersburg Text»: an extended report on the museum · 12.09.2026
- Radio «Kultura»on air with the museum’s founders · VGTRK
- Sobaka.ruhow to be Dovlatov’s guest
- Sobaka.ruannouncing the premiere in the communal flat
- Peterburgsky Dnevnika tour-performance in the communal flat
- Channel «St Petersburg»a real journey through time
Direct
Why book direct
Official websiteYou book directly with the museum — your request goes straight to the keepers, with no intermediaries.
Museum price1695 ₽ — no intermediary commission.
Refund guaranteeA 20 % prepayment, refunded in full if you cancel 24 hours before the start.
Other formats
Also in this flat
Museum tour «Inside apartment 34»
daily · apartment 34
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Secrets of Leningrad Communal Apartments
a grand tour of three flats
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What have I earned?
a play based on stories from «The Suitcase»
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Literary dinner
a private tour with a wine flight
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Catch Dovlatov If You Can
a performance-route through the flat
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An immersive performance in a communal flat
all four productions of apartment 34
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Come
A communal flat does not know how to say goodbye at once: there is always one more conversation, one more story, one more cup of tea. No goodbyes. Call me.
An immersive tour-performance in apartment 34 at 23 Rubinstein Street
20 % prepayment, the rest at the meeting point · cancel 24 hours ahead for a full refund of the prepayment