Komisarjevsky, Theodore

Komisarjevsky, Theodore [ Fedor Komisarjevsky] (1882–1954), Russian director and designer, brother of Vera Komisarjevskaya. Born in Venice, he was brought up in Russia and gained his initial experience in the pre-Revolutionary theatre, where from 1907 he produced a number of plays and operas, first at his sister's theatre and from 1910 in Moscow, in his own studio and elsewhere, including Goethe's Faust in 1912. In 1919 he emigrated to England, where he worked initially as a theatre designer, and was first noticed during the Russian season at the Barnes Theatre in 1926. Although his best work was done in productions of and designs for Russian plays, particularly those of Chekhov, he was also responsible for a number of controversial productions at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, notably Macbeth (1933) with aluminium scenery, The Merry Wives of Windsor (1935) in the style of a Viennese operetta, a widely acclaimed King Lear (1936), The Comedy of Errors (1938), and The Taming of the Shrew (1939). In London during these years he also produced a wide variety of plays, including Chekhov's The Seagull with Edith Evans in 1936; the last was Barrie's The Boy David (also 1936). He subsequently went to the United States, where he remained until his death. He was the second husband of Peggy Ashcroft.