The main Kazakh-language theatre of southern Kazakhstan, named for Zhumat Shanin, one of the founding figures of professional Kazakh theatre in the 1920s. The current neoclassical building on the south side of the centre has been the home of the company since the late Soviet period.
Performances are mostly in Kazakh, occasionally Russian, and run the range from classical drama to contemporary plays and dance. Tickets are cheap by international standards; an evening here is one of the better ways to see the city beyond its tourist face.