Theatre "Buff" in St. Petersburg was opened in the autumn of 1870 near the famous Alexandrinsky theatre then. "Buff" theatre, the repertoire of which dramatic and musical performances. "Buff" is a theatrical genre (Latin for "fun, mischief"), combining Comedy, music, song, dance and musical.

Initially Petersburg theatre "Buff" existed as a circus, but the idea of the architect N. Lviv has been designed so that, if necessary, is easily converted into a theatre. After an unexpected fire, the building was rebuilt and given known in the theatrical field to the Moscow playwright and actor A. Fedorov. He received permission for the staging of performances, but with the caveat that all shows will be performed in a foreign language that, on the one hand, has played a positive role in the performances could participate famous actors from Italy and France. But on the other hand, this limitation has been one of the decisive factors in the formation of the style of the theatre: to be clear for the audience, the action on stage had a lot of music, dance, acrobatics and magic tricks. Accordingly, the repertoire presented was relevant at the time of the review, extravaganzas, chanson.

It probably was the defining reason for its popularity with St. Petersburg public of the late 19th-early 20th century. The popularity of the theatre show dedicated to him the poetry of Nekrasov and Ognivtsev, as well as mention of it in the novel "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy.

The stage of theatre "Buff" was the first who took the famous operetta by such famous composers as Imre kálmán (the operetta "the circus Princess" and "Silva") and Jacques Offenbach ("Beautiful Helen"). The theatre participated in the stars of the Parisian operetta: Anna Judic, Hydrangea Schneider, Louise Philippe. Thus, the audience could see the stage almost all of the operetta that had popularity in Paris. Here were the most popular comedians Davydov and Monks, as well as Gregory Yaron. The theater room had great acoustics that allowed the audience even from the back row of perfectly hear each spoken by actors word.

The theater building burned down suddenly in 1872. The ensuing repeated change of a succession of owners, unfortunately, are not affected very positively on the level of popularity of the theatre. For some time the theatre was working on the Fontanka as "Summer Buff", where he staged his operetta mainly provincial theatre companies.

After the 1917 revolution it was closed due to excessive "levity".

The revival of the theatre dates back to 1983. Then well-known artist and teacher Isaac R. Starband released course the artists of the St. Petersburg hoakalei theatre arts and organized a troupe with the intention to open a cabaret theatre. As such the idea of naming the theatre was not adopted by the Soviet officials, it was suggested that the name "Buff", which was approved. Following pre-revolutionary traditions of the first theater, the troupe all the seasons, except winter, often played on stage in Izmailovsky garden, on the Fontanka.

Now (since 2010) the theatre is located in a new private building, is located at the address Sankt-Peterburg, Zanevskiy PR., building 26, building 3 and its impressive design. The theatre has several rooms: a Large hall, Cabaret BUFF, Buffiki, and Mirror room. The building is located where once was located the cinema "Okhta". Transforming the Great hall is equipped with modern equipment, allowing to make a reality of the boldest ideas of the filmmakers.

The today's troupe of the theatre is the graduates of different years. Among them, many distinguished artists of the Russian Federation, the winners of competitions of performers. Productions intended for adult audiences and children. The degree of diversity of genres with the "Buff" is, perhaps, not unlike any other theatre in St. Petersburg.