The Maly Drama Theater of St. Petersburg is one of the great calling cards of Russian theater in the contemporary era. If you think that sounds like an overstatement, think again. Lev Dodin and the Maly -- as the theater's name is affectionately abbreviated throughout the world -- have probably gained more fans, been to more cities and garnered more international acclaim than any other Russian theater in recent memory.

Dodin's presence in Moscow is strong too. His theater is invariably one of the participants in the annual Golden Mask Festival, and on occasion it settles into an extended residency in Moscow, where it shows off its current repertoire. This year, Moscow will host the theater's longest run ever. Opening with Dodin's powerful dramatization of Vasily Grossman's novel, "Life and Fate," on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Maly Theater, Dodin's company will perform almost daily through Nov. 21, when it unveils a new production of Eugene O'Neill's "A Long Day's Journey Into Night" at the Meyerhold Center. In all, the Maly will offer 15 performances of eight titles spread over three weeks.

"Life and Fate," a sweeping tale of tragedy and intrigue behind the lines during World War II that was awarded the Golden Mask Prize as Russia's best large-scale drama in April, is typical Dodin. It is built on a grand scale and interweaves the lives and fates of dozens of people, acted with passion and directed with vision and precision. There is probably no theater in Russia today more traditional than the Maly. This is a house built squarely and solidly on the tenets of realistic, psychological and morally engaged theater.

Far from being apologetic about his deeply felt beliefs in an age when flippancy, parody and kitsch have become the measuring stick for fashion, Dodin wears his sincerity -- even his solemnity -- on his sleeve. Dodin's style probably owes more to the aesthetic and ethical principles of Leo Tolstoy than to all the avant-garde theater directors who have come since the great novelist helped establish what is called the Golden Age of Russian literature.

Whether or not Dodin can be said to have engendered a Golden Age of Russian theater is a point open to debate. That he has created one of the most versatile and powerful theatrical houses in the annals of Russian theater is not.

This tour will bring a fairly even combination of the new and old. "Brother and Sisters," a grinding, six-hour interpretation of Fyodor Abramov's novel about common people struggling to maintain their dignity in the face of war and political interference, originally opened in 1985. This show, which plays at the Maly Theater at 2 p.m. on Nov. 9, can be considered the launching point for everything Dodin has done since. It brought him national acclaim and propelled him into the international spotlight when it began showing abroad in the late 1980s. Another important older work included on the Moscow schedule is Dodin's 10-hour, three-part production of Fyodor Dostoevsky's "The Demons." Like "Brothers and Sisters" and "Life and Fate," this piece, which originally premiered in 1991, highlights Dodin's ability to coordinate a dazzling number of divergent and parallel plot lines with efficiency, clarity and maximal emotional impact. "The Demons" begins at noon on Nov. 2 at the Et Cetera Theater.

Two of the tour's shows are almost brand new. Shakespeare's "Love's Labors Lost," which plays Nov. 5 and 6 at the Maly Theater, premiered in May. Still newer is "A Long Day's Journey Into Night," which concludes the tour. Directed by Dodin and featuring several of his top actors, including Tatyana Shestakova, Igor Ivanov, Sergei Kuryshev and Pyotr Semak, this production opened Monday on the theater's home stage on Ulitsa Rubinshteina in St. Petersburg.

Also coming to town are Anton Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya," Leonid Zorin's "A Warsaw Melody" and Brian Friel's "Molly Sweeney," all of which entered the Maly's repertoire in the 2000s.

A word to procrastinators: Dodin's shows tend to sell out quickly in Moscow. Short of booking a hotel room in St. Petersburg and ignoring the rest of your life for a couple of weeks, this is your best chance to witness a large cross section of some of the best theater Russia has to offer.

The Maly Drama Theater tour, produced by the Golden Mask Festival, opens Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Maly Theater, located at 2 Theater Square. M. Teatralnaya. Other shows, running through Nov. 21, play at the Et Cetera Theater and the Meyerhold Center. For information call 755-8335. See the Calendar for a full listing of performances.