KOMMISSARZHEVSKY, THEODORE

(1882-1954)

The Russian-born (in Venice, Italy) son of operatic tenor Fyodor Petrovich Kommis-sarzhevsky and half-brother of the actress Vera Kommissarzhevskaya became a noted scene designer-director in England and America. He left his theatre career in Russia in 1919, a dangerous and difficult departure recounted in his autobiographyMyself and the Theatre(1929), to direct opera in London. For seven seasons, he directed Shakespeare plays at Stratford-upon-Avon. There he developed his conceptual approach to production in a theatre that did not yet understand directing as an art separate from company management. He came to New York in 1922 to direct for the Theatre Guild, and thereafter divided his career as director and designer between London and New York.