Theodore Komisarjevsky
Theodore Komisarjevsky | |
---|---|
Фёдор Фёдорович Комиссаржевский | |
Born | Fyodor Fyodorovich Komissarzhevsky' 23 May 1882 |
Died | 17 April 1954 | (aged 71)
Education | Saint Petersburg University, Imperial Institute of Architecture |
Occupation(s) | theatrical director, designer |
Known for | productions of plays by Chekhov and Shakespeare |
Spouses | |
Children | 2 sons, 1 daughter |
Parents |
|
Fyodor Fyodorovich Komissarzhevsky (Russian: Фёдор Фёдорович Комиссаржевский; 23 May 1882 – 17 April 1954), or Theodore Komisarjevsky, was a Russian, later British, theatrical director and designer. He began his career in Moscow, but had his greatest influence in London. He was noted for groundbreaking productions of plays by Chekhov and Shakespeare.
Life and career
Early years
Komisarjevsky was born in
In 1907, Komisarjevsky directed his first production, for his half-sister's theatre in Moscow. (She died in 1910, aged 45.) In the same year, he founded a drama school in Moscow, adding a studio-theatre in her memory in 1914. During the rest of the Imperial era, and later under the Soviet régime, Komisarjevsky worked as a producer and director in Moscow until 1919, when, fearing arrest by the secret police, he escaped to Paris. On the advice of his fellow émigré
London and Chekhov
In 1919, Komisarjevsky formed
In June 1921, Rosing and Komisarkevsky presented a season of "Opera Intime" at the Aeolian Hall in London, with members of the British Symphony Orchestra conducted by Adrian Boult.[5][6] The operas given were The Queen of Spades, The Barber of Seville, Bastien und Bastienne and Pagliacci.[7] The Times commented that the staging gave an "irritating sense of amateurishness,"[8] however The Observer judged that Komisarjevsky had been "very ingenious" in adapting the operas for the small stage.[9]
In 1921, Komsarjevsky earned good notices for his production of
He has, in some cases with great success, remoulded the English man or woman into a Russian. He has relaxed the phlegm; he has taught them to say momentous things in the most off-hand manner; he has imbued them with the spirit of concealing art by being wholly natural. … He seeks evenness with but an occasional rise of temperature – now brought about by vodka, now by the long-pent-up feelings of the disillusioned idealist. The result is … interesting, fascinating, puzzling, despite its sameness of movement.[11]
In 1932, Komisarjevsky became a British national. In the same year, he worked for the first time at the
Komisarjevsky, though bald, short and "no Adonis", as one of his many conquests described him, was a persistent and successful womaniser.
Later years
When World War II broke out, Komisarjevsky was in the United States, which remained his home for the rest of his life. He devoted his time more to lecturing and teaching than to production. One theatrical venture was in Canada, where he directed Cymbeline in 1950 for the Montreal Festival of Music and Drama.[18] In the last year of his life, the Arts Theatre in London invited him to direct there, but his health did not permit it.[16]
In 1946, Komisarjevsky made his debut with the
Komisarjevsky died at his home in Darien, Connecticut, on 17 April 1954, survived by his third wife, the dancer Ernestine Stodelle (1905–2008).[19] It is not known how many children he left from his various affairs, but the ODNB records two sons and one daughter.[2]
Legacy
Komisarjevsky wrote several books. Those published in English include Myself and the Theatre (1930), The Costume of the Theatre (1931) and The Theatre and a changing Civilization (1935). His books in Russian include Theatrical Preludes; The Costume, and The Art of the Actor.[17]
Komisarjevsky left a lasting legacy in London in the shape of theatre and cinema interiors he designed, including the
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Tooting Granada
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Tooting Granada
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Woolwich Granada
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Woolwich, staircase
Notes
- ^ Borovsky, p. 80
- ^ a b c d e Marshall, Norman, "Komisarjevsky, Theodore (1882–1954)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, retrieved 18 January 2015 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- ^ a b c "Obituary – Mr Komisarjevsky – Civilization and the Stage", The Times, 19 April 1954, p. 8
- ^ Letter and Enclosure from Vladimir Rosing to James Louis Garvin, December 1919. James Louis Garvin Collection, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin.
- ^ Boult, p. 48
- JSTOR 910014.
- ^ Untitled news item, The Observer, 26 June 1921, p. 8
- ^ "The Queen of Spades", The Times, 27 June 1921, p. 8
- ^ "Music of the Week", The Observer, 3 July 1921, p. 10
- ^ "Uncle Vanya", The Times, 29 November 1921, p. 8
- Illustrated London News, 20 February 1926, p. 306
- ^ "Stratford-On-Avon", The Times, 26 July 1932, p. 10
- ^ Borovsky, p. 339
- ^ Borovsky, p. 340
- ^ Billington, Michael. "Ashcroft, Dame Edith Margaret Emily (Peggy) (1907–1991)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2010, retrieved 18 January 2015 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- ^ a b "Komisarjevsky – Producer, Artist, and Author", The Manchester Guardian, 19 April 1954, p. 2
- ^ a b c "Komisarjevsky, Theodore", Who Was Who, Oxford University Press, 2014, retrieved 28 January 2015 (subscription required)
- ^ "French Theatre in Montreal", The Times, 30 May 1950, p. 3
- ^ Borovsky, p. 457
References
- Borovsky, Victor (2001). A triptych from the Russian Theatre – an artistic biography of the Komissarzhevskys. London: Hurst. ISBN 1850654123.
- Boult, Sir Adrian (1973). My Own Trumpet. London: Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 0241024455.
External links
- (in English) Komisarjevsky in Encyclopædia Britannica
- (in Russian) Komisarjevsky in Krugosvet Encyclopedia
- (in Russian) Komisarjevsky in St Petersburg Encyclopedia