Theodore Komisarjevsky costume and set designs
Overview
Theodore Komisarjevsky costume and set designs for the productions he directed in Russia, France and England.
Dates
- Creation: 1918-1936
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English and French.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.
Extent
.5 linear feet (21 designs in 21 folders)Includes set design for Cherry orchard, costume design for Le Club des canards mandarins, 2 costume designs for Duenna, 1 costume design for Henry IV, 8 costume designs for Merry wives of Windsor, 3 costume designs for Romeo and Juliet, 1 set design for The Seagull, 2 costume designs for 18th-century style French comic opera, 1 cpstume design for The Love for three oranges, and curtain design for London cinema house.
Biographical / Historical
Theodore Komisarjevsky (Федор Федорович Комиссаржевский) (1882-1954) was a Russian theater and opera producer, director, designer, and author, and a member of a famous Russian theatrical dynasty: son of a prominent Russian opera singer, and step-brother of a legendary Russian actress Vera Komisarjevkaya. In 1919 he left revolutionary Russia for Paris, and then London. In England, his productions of Chekhov's plays changed the way theater professionals and the audience understood the work of the dramatist. As director and designer he created several productions for the Shakespeare Memorial Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. In the 1930s, Komisarjevsky also designed the interior and decor of a number of London cinema houses. In 1939 he moved to the United States, where he worked for a number of New York and Canadian theater companies, and later taught at Yale School of Drama and opened Komisarjevsky Theater Studio in Connecticut.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by title of production.
Physical Location
pfd
Physical Location
ppf
Immediate Source of Acquisition
No accession number. Gift of Ernestine Stodelle Komisarjevsky; received: 1957.
Processing Information
Processed by: Irina Klyagin
- Title
- Komisarjevsky, Theodore, 1882-1954. Theodore Komisarjevsky costume and set designs, 1918-1936: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou02609
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
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