On March 9, 1797, the estate located between the land of the former Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery and the house of the Noble Assembly was sold at auction by the treasury chamber to court councilor Grigory Vasilyevich Gladkov. In 1807, he opened his serf theater there. Memoirist F. F. Vigel describes Gladkov as an immoral and cruel man, but passionate about theater. He built a small stone theater where his serfs performed, from the steward to the groom. Gladkov preferred tragedies and dramas, although he sometimes staged comedies, which were less successful. The memoirist recalls that traces of beatings were sometimes visible on the actors' faces.

After Gladkov's death in 1821, the theater passed to his children Vasily, Yakov, and Alexander. They left the actors and the theater's income to their mother, Anna Yakovlevna. Vasily Grigoryevich Gladkov, nicknamed Buyanov for his cruelty, managed the theater, and the actors' skills significantly improved. V. A. Insarsky remembered him as "original" and "remarkable." V. G. Belinsky, who studied nearby, left enthusiastic reviews about the theater despite its dilapidated condition.

In 1829, the theater closed due to the owner's cruel treatment of the actors. In 1836, the estate was purchased by titular councilor Ivan Nikolaevich Gorstkin, who rebuilt the theater and began renting it to various troupes. In 1862, the theater was rented by entrepreneur P. M. Medvedev, who described his meeting with Gorstkin and his passion for construction. Medvedev opened the season in Penza, and the proceeds were successful.

The theater of Gorstkin hosted the famous tragic actor Ira Aldridge. After Gorstkin's death in 1876, the theater was inherited by his son Lev Ivanovich Gorstkin. From 1878 to 1881, writer Vladimir Alekseevich Gilyarovsky performed here under the pseudonym V. A. Sologub. Dalmatov recalled Penza as the place where he spent the best years.

From 1891, the estate belonged to Pyotr Ivanovich Dubovitsky, under whose management actor N. P. Rossov debuted as Hamlet in 1890. In 1894, the estate was purchased by Pyotr Mikhailovich Vysheslavtsev, and in 1910, it became the property of Nikolai Petrovich Vysheslavtsev. Many famous actors, including the Adelgheim brothers, performed at the Vysheslavtsev theater.

The theater building has not survived; a residential building has been constructed in its place.